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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29434233">Walking With My Eyes Open</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killthespare/pseuds/Killthespare'>Killthespare</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>....in the sense of medical research for a cure, Curing Fantasy With Science, Hanahaki Disease, Hanahaki would suck in real life, Humor, M/M, Medical Experimentation, Science Fiction, Science vs. Mentalism, conversations about consent, medical research, so they're going to cure it!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 16:33:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>25,530</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29434233</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killthespare/pseuds/Killthespare</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><em>“I’m dying,” Senkuu said in the same tone he used for minor inconveniences. </em><br/> <br/>Or, in other words, Senkuu gets a fun new experiment by way of contracting lethal Hanahaki Disease and somehow Gen’s still the one who suffers.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Asagiri Gen &amp; Ishigami Senkuu, Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>354</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fics I would recommend to my friends, favourite drst fics</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I Didn't Fall in Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Step 1: Observation and Formulating a Question. To begin an experiment, a researcher must first observe the phenomenon of interest in as close to its natural state as possible. Through this observation, a research question can then be formed</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Senkuu was wrenched out of sleep in his newly minted observatory by a chest wracking cough and a handful of spit covered petals stuck to the floor, he had exactly four gut reactions and one conscious thought in specifically that order.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not totally unexpectedly, he decided to ignore the feelings for the moment in favor of the thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu examined the petals and smiled at his first thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This is going to be exhilarating.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Kingdom of Science didn’t actually have normal days….or maybe they did but their normal days were just so abnormal by any other standard that no one actually knew what a normal day was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen had time to reflect on these things as he, for once, was able to weasel himself off into the sidelines by virtue of neither being strong enough to break tungsten apart nor having the scientific know-how to theorize how the vacuum tube could come together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In other words, he was free! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure, sure, a little teensy tiny bit of token encouragements--just enough for Gen to protest he was totally pulling his weight, how dare you say otherwise!--and, then, he was off to do….whatever he actually could do for free-time when the entire world outside the village was rocks and trees.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He resisted a grimace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wondered when a day without backbreaking labor had somehow become synonymous with a day at the spa some three-thousand, five-hundred years ago. Come to think of it, he was completely blaming his utter abandonment of priorities on Senkuu and his infuriating way of making formerly tedious tasks into something </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost</span>
  </em>
  <span> like entertainment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which, speaking of the man, he seemed to be almost done with his cute little science-craftsman mind meld thing he did with Chrome and Kaseki which meant if there was a time to escape--</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A hand hooked on the back of his collar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen’s eyes widened. No!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come help me over here, modern man. You must know at least a little more chemistry than the villagers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nooooooooo! Ugh, that was just unfair!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, of course, his protests were completely ignored. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Let this be a lesson to Gen that he should never, ever, ever procrastinate on disappearing when it came to the Kingdom of Science. Even a few seconds’ hesitation meant he was now getting dragged back into the lab, where he’d probably leave smelling kinda like ammonia and have a dizzying headache from all the chemical formulas that Senkuu threw at him like they were common knowledge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like now, where Senkuu was currently explaining in apparently “easy terms” how they were developing the tungsten toothpaste. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen thought there might’ve been something about honey….which seemed off; but, what did Gen know? By now, Senkuu could tell them something ridiculous like he needed hair from a wild gorilla to make an ice cream machine and Gen would just roll with it and start thinking of gorilla traps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hmmm...actually. He wondered how hard it would be to convince Senkuu that ice cream was a necessary morale booster?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu had stopped talking and was looking at Gen expectantly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fuck! How was he going to get out of this?!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen used special move: BULLSHIT! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay! I understood all of that, Senkuu-chan! Honey! Bake it, and then honey! I got that much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was super effective!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or Gen thought it was by the way Senkuu stare went flat. “Chrome’s definitely ten billion times more useful than you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah,” Gen said, “I don’t think anyone could have kept up with that.” Now, a little bit of flattery thrown in. “You’re the only one who gets it, Senkuu-chan!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Viola, a perfect excuse on why Gen really wasn’t the best cut out for chemistry problems and would be much better off wandering around the village, managing possible problems. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least it </span>
  <em>
    <span>would </span>
  </em>
  <span>have been a perfect excuse if Senkuu didn’t follow that up with a sigh, long and almost resigned and really not much like their resident village chief at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen’s mentalist senses suddenly pinged hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever,” Senkuu said. “I didn’t really call you to help on the tungsten paste other than to hold some beakers and hand me the chemicals.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Gen perked up, “then why am I here, Senkuu-chan?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“New experiment,” Senkuu glanced outside the lab briefly as if checking the others were still far enough away, working on the light bulbs, “I need you to be my research partner. Though, honestly, that’s probably overstating your role a bit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eeeh, I’m flattered that you’re finally appreciating my brilliance, Senkuu-chan,” Gen raised a brow. “But, don’t you normally go to Chrome for the science things?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Senkuu was already laying out chemicals for the stone paste thing, only halfway looking up. “Yeah and I’d definitely prefer Chrome for this, too; but, unfortunately, it looks like this one has to be you if I’m going to get any real work done.” He paused, grimacing. “Plus, I’d rather the village not find out about this one. At least, not until it’s done.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ooooh and a secret experiment, too, one that even had Senkuu a little hesitant. Nevermind, it looks like today the lab was the most interesting place Gen could be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hopped up on the lab table, ignoring the mild glare Senkuu sent at him for doing it. “Don’t worry, Senkuu-chan, I’m very, </span>
  <em>
    <span>very </span>
  </em>
  <span>good at being discreet. You can tell me aaaannnything, my lips are completely sealed.” He even mimed zipping his mouth to top off the performance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu was already looking like he regretted this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So,” Gen pressed, “what’s this ultra big science-y secret that needs </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> help specially?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu rolled his eyes, taking a single breath and…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m dying,” Senkuu said in the same tone he used for minor inconveniences.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen froze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No, froze wasn’t entirely accurate. Because he could suddenly hear his heart beating painfully in his chest, twice the rate it was supposed to; he could feel his face going pale and his skin cold; he thought….he thought he might be sick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re….you’re what,” Gen croaked out and for half a second he thought maybe it was a joke or Senkuu being overly dramatic. But Senkuu’s dramatics tended for should-be-insane scientific discoveries and not….not this. “How? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu looked infuriatingly calm as ever. “You can relax, mentalist. I said </span>
  <em>
    <span>dying, </span>
  </em>
  <span>not that I’m going to die.” His expression twinged, rubbing at his chest. “Quit looking like that. I already have a plan worked out. Trust me, I don’t have a millimetre's worth of interest in dying before we even get to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> exciting stuff.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen felt like he could breathe again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He told himself it was because Senkuu was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Senkuu </span>
  </em>
  <span>and without him, the entire Kingdom of Science was basically fucked--not to mention the rest of the world. Gen was a very selfish man, after all. He liked things like cotton candy and cola and not dying from pneumonia. None of which would be likely if Senkuu kicked the bucket before they even finished cell phones.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, Senkuu had a plan and historically Senkuu’s plans had a pretty high success rate of coming true no matter how improbable they sounded--the effect was double when the plan involved science.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen took a breath, steadying himself. “So...how are you dying?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hanahaki Disease,” Senkuu answered casually.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen nearly fell off the lab table.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ehhh?!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Did Senkuu just say….did </span>
  <em>
    <span>Senkuu </span>
  </em>
  <span>just tell him…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hanahaki Disease,” Senkuu repeated before shrugging, “also known as the flower sickness, rare but most often originating in East Asian regions like--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know what it is!” Gen interrupted. “That’s supposed to be a </span>
  <em>
    <span>myth</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu snorted. “Hardly. Though I suppose that’s fair, it was more found in folklore in the past half a century--or, well, three thousand and six hundred centuries, now--but, the first medically documented case was in 2009.” He tapped his finger along a beaker. “Admittedly, it’s still one of the rarest diseases documented. Even in our era, doctors didn’t know much about its causes or development. No one’s even found a full fledged cure yet or a treatment that didn’t involve invasive surgery. ” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, Senkuu smirked because Senkuu was fucking insane. “Just think, mentalist, we’re going to use our stone world to make a groundbreaking medical discovery that even our experts couldn’t figure out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sometimes, Gen reflected, conversations with Senkuu were the verbal equivalent of going for a nice stroll and falling down a cliff. Followed by losing gravity. Then, you’d just be floating along, being hit by rocks and junk, wondering what the fuck even happened and how you were supposed to get back to solid ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmmm, yes, I’m very excited for you,” Gen managed dryly. “Why get you the telescope when apparently we could have just given you a deadly disease for your birthday? Congratulations.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I liked the telescope, too,” Senkuu threw in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fantastic. One teensy tiny question,” Gen held up a finger. “What happens on the off chance we can’t figure it out and you die horrifically from something out of a fairytale!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu picked at his ear, not looking concerned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fairytale or not,” he said, “all fantasy has to have a scientific base. If we find out the underlying rules of this disease, we should be able to hypothesize a cure. It should even work out on our timeline.” He smirked. “Based on the reports, the average span of terminal Hanahaki Disease takes two to three months. We’ll have an answer one way or another by the time spring gets here and the village has to deal with Tsukasa.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen was going to strangle him one day, he swore it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu at least seemed to notice Gen’s lack of staggeringly, idiotic confidence. The smirk faded, tone going completely serious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll figure this out, mentalist. I’m ten billion percent sure of it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gave in to tilting his head back and closing his eyes just for a short handful of seconds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu was right. They could do this. Compared from freeing the entire world from stone, this was even comparatively easy. Senkuu currently knew more about medicine than anyone in the world and Gen was an expert in psychology. If anyone could figure out a </span>
  <em>
    <span>love disease, </span>
  </em>
  <span>it was them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A piece clicked together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oooh ho,” Gen moved back forward, regaining himself and sliding right into teasing, “and, now, I see why you just had to have me as your research partner. Hmmm, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Senkuu-chan</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu shrugged. “Well, yeah, I figured it was obvious.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen clapped his hands together. “Oh, absolutely, who better to know about wooing someone than a mentalist! Don’t you worry, Senkuu-chan, whoever you’re pining over, I can get them falling over their feet in no time.” Gen’s face split open in a grin. “Really, I’d be happy to. Even without the whole dying thing, this is the most interesting task I’ve had in weeks. Minus the whole preparing for war thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu frowned. “Mentalist--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, first things first,” Gen said, “tell me who the lucky lovebird-to-be is!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu looked at him like he was an idiot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen decided to ignore that. “Come on, Senkuu-chan, no need to be shy! I’m going to have to find out anyway if you want my help. Hmmm,” he tapped his chin, “or would it be easier if I guessed?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Senkuu said flatly. “Guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Weeeellll,” Gen leaned back and thought, “I guess the most obvious choice would be Kohaku--”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Obvious?!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Kohaku?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But, apparently not,” Gen continued. “Okay and the rest get more tricky. You came to me first rather than them. Now, normally you’re a fairly straight forward person so I’d guess you’d go to them to start; but, here you wanted my advice first, so there must be some kind of problem. So, who is it…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He snuck a glance at Senkuu, who was pinching his nose and glaring up at the ceiling like it was the source of all his problems.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Gen realized, “it’s Chrome, isn’t it? You’re worried because of his thing with Ruri.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu’s head shot back down. “What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No worries, that childhood crush has years without results, so I think you still have a chance--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not Chrome,” Senkuu interrupted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen frowned. “Then, is it Ruri? The ex-wife thing could--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen gasped. “Chrome </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ruri! Ambitious, Senkuu-chan, but--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I regret every second of this conversation.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so not them,” Gen tried a different track. “Taiju?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gross.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yuzuriha?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seriously, mentalist.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kinro.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, you’re just fishing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, excuse me, I’m kinda running out of options here,” Gen whined. He went down his list of all possible candidates, crossing out names one by one before….His eyes widened. “Oh no…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Finally!” Senkuu threw his hands up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen nodded miserably. “It’s Tsukasa, isn’t it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu stared at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit, it totally is,” Gen groaned. What a disaster.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“No,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Senkuu said with prejudice, “but, you know what? I fucking wish it was Tsukasa now! At least, he has a brain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The various worst case scenario plans Gen was already making were summarily thrown in the mental dumpster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then, who is it,” Gen asked, finally giving it up. “Wait, do you even know who it is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it was absolutely clear when I saw the flower. Hanahaki Disease is </span>
  <em>
    <span>reported</span>
  </em>
  <span> to always be the flower the patient associates with the person they’re in love with. Though I have my doubts on whether that’s actually--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what’s the flower,” Gen cut him off before the rant got into science and Gen never figured out who Senkuu was apparently in love with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu huffed like he always did when he got derailed from science but obligingly reached for his belt and drew out a folded piece of cloth, handing it over to Gen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen unwrapped it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five black nightshade laid in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen stared at them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Abstractly, Gen realized he might’ve been staring at them for a really long time as there was the unmistakable sound of Senkuu getting back to work in the background.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Black nightshade…,” Gen said, still looking at the petals like they might change shape, “so, it’s me? You’re….you’re in love with me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Enough to vomit flowers, apparently.” was Senkuu’s blasé response, not even looking up from measuring chemicals.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The world tilted on its axis again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” Gen finally pulled his eyes away, “is this a </span>
  <em>
    <span>confession</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu paused, long enough to show he was considering the question. “A gesture to reveal feelings, specifically of a romantic nature.” He nodded, satisfied before turning back to his chemicals. “Yeah, I suppose it is in a technical sense. I was more thinking of it as a research proposal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen held back a groan. A research proposal, honestly, how very like Senkuu.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, the bigger problem hit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But, I don’t...I don’t feel the same way,” Gen said before he could even think of lying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Actually, before this morning, he’d kinda assumed Senkuu was asexual. He was absolutely certain that he’d never considered Senkuu in a romantic light, especially not for himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which was a </span>
  <em>
    <span>problem. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Anyone else and Gen was confident in his abilities to, at the very least, make a very good effort at wooing them over to Senkuu’s side. To a very basic level, he was pretty sure he could spark some interest--maybe enough to hold off Hanahaki disease until Senkuu developed a cure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t work that way when he was wooing </span>
  <em>
    <span>himself</span>
  </em>
  <span>. That meant the timeline was very, very real and Senkuu could actually die and all because he’d made the ill-advised mistake of falling for Gen, who probably just broke his heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, fuck, had he just broken Senkuu’s heart? Was that even possible?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He should have just lied or--</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A cough. “Oi, mentalist, whatever you’re working yourself up about, </span>
  <em>
    <span>stop</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen jerked out of his thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu was staring at him, not looking particularly heartbroken at all, actually. “I know. I’m perfectly aware that you’re not in love with me. I figured that out before I even decided to tell you.” He smirked. “Wouldn’t be much of an experiment if you cured it right on the first day, would it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen gaped at him, once again thrown into the disorienting experience that was talking to Senkuu.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then, why am I here,” Gen asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you, as a research partner,” Senkuu repeated. “We’re basically working with a blank slate right now when it comes to what we know about the disease. Does it have to be love? What kind of love? How is that translated to brain activity? Where is the plant even growing and how? What kind of response slows the progression? Can it even be slowed significantly?” He started counting off. “There’s blood pressure monitoring, heart rate measure, proxemics, hormone release, biological susceptibility--a billion different variables and I can only study half of them without you here to show how your influence affects the results.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu grinned. “I told you, mentalist, we’re going to study this step by step until we find some answers. And the first step: Observation!”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen didn’t fall asleep that night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was only partly because whatever method the villagers had thought up to melt tungsten apparently involved frequent explosions and suspicious flashes of light. It also wasn’t entirely because Senkuu called him up to act as an assistant--despite his own behavior, Senkuu actually did let other people keep regular sleep schedules on occasion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No, as Gen mimicked sleep under a pile of blankets at the corner of the lab, he stayed awake thinking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen was not a scientist in the same way Senkuu was; but, he had always prided himself as methodical.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He laid out the facts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fact One. Gen wasn’t a stranger to confessions, even ones that appeared out of the blue. He had been a celebrity back in his former life. He knew he had a pretty face and knew how to draw out his words in a mix of teasing and flirting. He used to date plenty of people casually. Had even gotten a few declarations of love, not that he’d ever believed them. The point was Gen knew how to feign attraction well enough that no had ever doubted it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fact Two. The Kingdom of Science was going to war with the Empire of Might just as soon as the snow started to fall. Wars were never pleasant things, despite all of Senkuu’s plans on making it bloodless. There were always hundreds of ways everything could go wrong even if just a single detail was missed. They needed everyone at their best--most of all, their leader.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fact Three. Even if he’d only thought of it as an internet myth before today, what Gen did know--what Senkuu had already confirmed--was that Hanahaki Disease was a vicious, painful disease where the victim’s own body tried to tear itself apart from the inside. Brutal to even live with and deadly if not cured. In three months at most, Senkuu would die painfully unless they found some kind of miracle cure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fact Four. None of this would last without Senkuu. That didn’t even bear expounding on, really. Everything. The Kingdom of Science. The dreams of depetricication. All of that relied on a single person’s continued survival.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fact Five. Despite that, Gen had noticed Senkuu had a disturbing lack of dramatics when it came to his own mortality. It wasn’t even a lack of care, per se--Senkuu always seemed exactly as cautious with his own life as he was with everybody else's. But, that was the problem. Because Senkuu </span>
  <em>
    <span>wasn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>everybody else and sometimes Gen wanted to take his oh so noble “save everybody” perspective and beat him over the head with it. Because there had to be more to it than that. It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>normal</span>
  </em>
  <span> for people to prioritize their own lives. And Gen still had a list of questions on how exactly Senkuu had gotten Tsukasa to believe he killed him and, unfortunately, he’d never quite gotten Taiju or Yuzuriha to talk. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Anyway, </span>
  </em>
  <span>final point, Senkuu could be selfless to the point of fault, especially if that meant advancing science.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five Facts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One Conclusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen wasn’t going to risk Senkuu’s life to wait and see if the scientist could develop a cure. Gen was going to save him himself, using the one surefire way they knew could cure Hanahaki Disease.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen opened his eyes to slits as he carefully watched Senkuu move his way around the lab. He started to plan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen was going to convince Senkuu that he was in love with him if it was the last thing he ever did.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a plan that was entirely dedicated to Senkuu’s feelings, Gen had actually forgotten to account Senkuu himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The plan went like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An abrupt, direct confession wasn’t Gen’s preferred method. He’d rather give it time. Time meant subtle--a few lingering looks, touches that weren’t entirely necessary, words that danced and led until the person who heard them followed behind. Conveniently, Gen would make a plan for months.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, unfortunately, Gen didn’t have that time for the same reason he couldn’t wait around for a cure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which meant the alternative: a sudden realization.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The only problem there was that Gen had already shot himself in the foot with stupid honesty. Ugh, looking back, he should have just told Senkuu yesterday that his feelings were returned. But, </span>
  <em>
    <span>no, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Gen had to be in a state of shock where he’d stupidly blurted out his true feelings--or lack thereof. And, now, he was stuck working overtime to not only find the perfect way to tell Senkuu he loved him, too, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>also </span>
  </em>
  <span>come up with a plausible reason on why he’d denied it yesterday.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Here was his idea and it looked like the cards were already playing out in his favor. Because, luckily, the benefit of not sleeping the entire night was that Gen already looked like a mess and, for once, didn’t do any of his normal routine to try to hide it. As a bonus, Old Man Kaseki had also worked him half to death to make the insane Hickman glass thing. This in turn had downgraded Gen’s appearance from mess to outright trainwreck. Last, while Gen had been tortured via Hickman pump, Senkuu had apparently decided that indoor heating was a thing the village absolutely needed and had summarily sent most of the others out to collect coal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The results meant that by night, him and Senkuu were entirely alone for the evening and Gen looked like a man who’d been put through the emotional ringer and had somehow come through on the other side enlightened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was perfect. Gen could wax poetically about how--after he’d gotten through the shock and denial of hearing that Senkuu loved him--was absolutely wrecked by the mere thought that he might die and, in his agony, realized that he couldn’t live without Senkuu by his side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perfect. If Gen wasn’t already a novelist for psychology tidbits, he definitely had a future in the romance trade.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was, admittedly, the tiny worry of after. Gen had no idea how long he should keep this up. Would they be </span>
  <em>
    <span>dating</span>
  </em>
  <span> after this? Or whatever the stone world equivalent was? It seemed like it. What would happen if they broke up? Would the disease come back? Would Gen be keeping up a lie forever?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Terrifyingly, Gen thought he would if had to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d never had the strongest grasp on ethics and, for once, he was glad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, he also knew what it meant to lie. Lies had costs. Always. And lies didn’t always strike a fair bargain, sometimes they never told you their cost until after you’d already sold it. Gen had paid before. He could never go back to the Empire of Might without them killing him as a spy. He’d lied with a fistful of flowers to Magma and nearly been stabbed through the chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lies cost and they cost and they cost until there could be no poorer person than a liar that had run out of truths.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Senkuu ever found out Gen lied about this--be it weeks, months, years--Gen didn’t pretend there was a future he wouldn’t hate him for it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen took a breath and approached the lab anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A pity, really, what it cost to save Senkuu’s life. Then again, Gen had always been fonder of him than was probably wise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He paused outside of the lab, pinching his cheeks to a flush and getting ready for a performance of a lifetime.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time Gen pushed back the lab curtain, he’d already managed a tremble to his hands and an expression tinged in desperation. “Senkuu…I need to talk to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu looked up, took one look at Gen and then snorted. “Ha. The old man really worked you to the bone, didn’t he?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen ignored </span>
  <em>
    <span>that, </span>
  </em>
  <span>stumbling forward into the lab and grabbing Senkuu’s hands, mentally applauding himself on the way the man’s eyes widened and there was a quick intake of breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, Gen definitely had this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need to talk to you,” Gen repeated, both breathless and emphatic. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Please, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Senkuu-chan, just hear me out for a few moments. There’s something I have to say.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu cleared his throat, glancing down at their hands before back at Gen. “.....okay? What’s up?” He squinted at Gen’s appearance. “Is there something like….wrong with you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen laughed. “You know I think there might be. I think I might’ve been an idiot. Possibly for a long time now.” He stepped closer, hands still gripped between them. “Yesterday when you first told me you were sick, I didn’t want to believe it. No, I….I </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> believe it. Because if what you were saying was true, it meant you were dying because of me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu frowned. “I don’t--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, Senkuu-chan, let me finish,” Gen said, cutting him off. “That’s what I thought at first and I thought that’s why I was so upset. I felt like I couldn’t even think. But, then….even when you said we’d find a cure--</span>
  <em>
    <span>together--</span>
  </em>
  <span>I….”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen laughed wetly, letting a tear fall down his cheek and not bothering to catch it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He risked a glance up at Senkuu and saw that the scientist had started staring at him intently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, I know I probably seem like a mess right now,” Gen looked down bashfully. “I am a mess, honestly. I couldn’t sleep all night. I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said and, then, what </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>said and what this all could mean….if we let it. And,” a sigh, “I realized that the thing that was hurting me so much wasn’t that you were dying because of me, it was just….that I could lose you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think I could do any of this without you,” Gen whispered, head still tilted down. “Actually, I know I can’t because…..because what I’m trying to say is….”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen blinked away the tears, looking up to meet Senkuu’s strange red eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you, Senkuu-chan,” Gen finished.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu’s lips parted. “Gen, I--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen smiled, nodding to encourage Senkuu to speak. He knew he should have gotten into acting back when they still had things like movies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Senkuu-chan,” Gen urged eagerly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gen, I,” Senkuu shook his head, “literally have no idea how you thought that would work.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen’s smile froze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu snorted, dropping his hands like they were toxic. “Seriously, it’s been </span>
  <em>
    <span>a day. </span>
  </em>
  <span>How dumb do you think I am to believe the ‘sudden realization’ play? At least give it a week--then, maybe you wouldn’t look like you got run over by a truck.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fucking, fucking, fucking Senkuu! Who was going to die a-fucking-lone because he didn’t take the help Gen was oh so generously offering!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Senkuu,” Gen’s breath hitched, “I’m--I’m being serious here! I know it’s hard to believe--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s ten billion percent unlikely.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>love you!” He wiped at his eyes. “Please, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please </span>
  </em>
  <span>believe me! I don’t want to watch you die!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu just grinned at him. “Though, I guess it fits that you’d try for the easy way to get out of the real work.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen dropped the act. “Oh, fuck off, I spent all day working on your stupid Hickman pump. I’ve bled for this place. Give up for easy work, my ass.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, good, you’re back to normal.” Senkuu leaned back on the table. “When you first came in, I was actually getting worried, mentalist. What cheap romance novel you pull the monologue from?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen flipped him off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is interesting, though,” Senkuu said, grabbing for his notes, “even hearing a verbal response of reciprocation had no effect on the illness. I have to </span>
  <em>
    <span>believe</span>
  </em>
  <span> the feelings are reciprocated, too, apparently. Interesting. That means there must be some kind of cognitive element to it. Good work, mentalist, we have our first lead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hate you,” Gen grumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu cackled, scribbling another note. “Also, no effect, this disease really is exhilarating.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen glared for all the good it did him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu gave him a once over. “Get some sleep; you’ll need it. Meet me here tomorrow after sun-up; tomorrow, we start the real research progress.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Begrudgingly, Gen trudged back to his usual hut and collapsed back on the cot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, the first attempt was obviously a bust.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No matter, what kind of strategist would Gen be if he didn’t have more plans up his sleeves?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tomorrow, he’d start his second plan: make Senkuu fall </span>
  <em>
    <span>out</span>
  </em>
  <span> of love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How hard could it possibly be?</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Every Step Along the Way</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>General warning, both for this chapter and this story: This chapter does detail medical/disease stuff that might be seen as gory but is generally described in a fairly matter-of-fact or scientific tone.</p>
<p>Also, I am not nor have I ever been a medical professional so some suspension of disbelief is probably for the best for Hanahaki fics. </p>
<p>This chapter is dedicated to the fact that Senkuu always seems to do practically every other branch of science except his favorite astrophysics, which I find hilarious.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Step 2: Research. Once the phenomenon has been observed and the research question(s) formed, the next stage is examining any prior existing knowledge and creating testable hypotheses.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>On the morning of January 5, 5740, Senkuu woke up for the first time to a painful cough and black nightshade petals.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had one conscious thought and that was what he chose to focus on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But before his conscious mind came into play, he had four unconscious reactions, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first was confusion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Which was fair since last time he checked, he didn’t make a habit of eating mildly poisonous plants for dinner and, if he did, would at least boil them down first to clean out the toxins. None of which would result in perfectly formed petals.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The second source of confusion was a painful burning that traveled down from his neck into his chest and ended in his gut. Senkuu put a hand on his neck, still muddled from sleep and what he was vaguely considering might be esophagitis.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Petals. Coughing. Black Nightshade. Inflamed Esophagus.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ah.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The confusion was quickly burned away as a new emotion took its place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a catch when plotting to make a person fall out of love with you.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Especially when that person was Senkuu.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In fact, there were a few catches. Gen wondered if 2 Catch-22’s made a Catch-44?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>First was that Gen couldn’t actually risk damaging his relationship with Senkuu so badly that they wouldn’t be able to work together in the future. Gen </span>
  <em>
    <span>liked </span>
  </em>
  <span>living in the Kingdom of Science--it had indoor heating and didn’t have him hunt wild boar like was liable in the Empire of Might. Further, Gen would not-so-humbly claim that Ishigami Village had benefited greatly from having his mentalist skills on their side and would, by all reasoning, continue to do so--especially as they prepared for war.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All of which meant it would be rather unfortunate if Gen irritated Senkuu so badly that he kicked him out of the village, life saving benefit or not.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Second, the most likely thing to convince Senkuu that Gen was absolutely the worst possible person to be in love with was to impede the thing Senkuu held most precious. Science. But, not only did actively sabotaging science have a high chance of the village actually setting out to murder him, the entire thing would be ridiculously counterproductive. Senkuu’s current scientific projects were: (1) creating phones to save their lives from Tsukasa; (2) creating a cure to save his life from death by a thousand flowers. Both of which Gen was very, very invested in coming true.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So….Gen had to somehow find a way to get Senkuu to fall out of love with him that wouldn’t cause him to hate Gen’s guts and/or be completely convinced of Gen’s unsuitability via disregard of science.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then, there was the last thing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>….it wasn’t a catch, per se, but Gen also had to admit there was a reasonable chance Senkuu was already aware of his plan, having calculated it as the next most likely maneuver after the failed love confession last night.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In considering all of this, Gen had realized there was only one absolutely terrifying thing he could possibly do.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The one thing that went completely counter to everything he’d ever done before but would undoubtedly kill any possible love-like feelings in the shortest time possible</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen was going to be completely and utterly himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Since shaping the metal chimneys and gathering the coal needed to heat </span>
  <em>
    <span>every </span>
  </em>
  <span>hut in the village took time and many hands, Gen had every belief that Senkuu was correct in his assumption the lab would be perfectly empty and ready for their….more specialized science project.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He still yawned as he came, not putting the effort into his normal dramatic entrances.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Right now, it paid to be as bare bones as possible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good morning, Senkuu-chan,” Gen slid on to the lab table again--which was really Senkuu’s fault for not having other decent places to sit. “And what are we starting with today? I take it you already have some idea.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu smirked, pulling out his notebook “Better, I’ve got a list.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, you do,” Gen rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine; but, first give me the rundown on this Hanahaki Disease. The only things I know about it are urban legends.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s because basically that’s all doctors knew about it until the cases started getting more frequent.” Senkuu glanced down at his notes. “Even then, it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>still </span>
  </em>
  <span>mostly a total mystery, though. A physical illness that’s based on one of the most subjective emotional states in the brain. Fascinating. What we do know about it already is that it starts with flowers taking root in the patient’s stomach--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought it was lungs,” Gen interrupted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu shook his head. “Nah, common misconception because of the coughing--but, if it grew in the lungs that wouldn’t explain why some patients exhibit vomiting like they do.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean </span>
  <em>
    <span>some </span>
  </em>
  <span>respiratory illnesses do result in vomiting--pneumonia, of course--but, the specific makeup points to the digestive system due to--,” Senkuu wrinkled his nose, “yeah, trust me you don’t really want to hear the whys on this part. It’s the stomach, alright?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll believe you.” Gen grimaced.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Which actually is even more weird in a way,” Senkuu said. “Because plants </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>grown naturally in people’s lungs before--there was a case with a pea plant in America back before the petrification. The stomach, however, isn’t just made of tissue. The stomach acids alone should kill the plant before it sprouts, let alone be able to nurture it until it’s strong enough to tear the lining.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Has anyone ever told you that you say terrible things way too naturally,” Gen asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu snorted. “This is important; it means that there’s something in the disease that’s altering the stomach’s chemical makeup--weakening the acids and providing nutrients to the plant.” He tapped his makeshift pencil against the notebook. “Which that, along with the clearly cognitive element, means that the true root of the illness probably has something to do with the signals the brain’s sending the stomach.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen took a moment just to be somewhat impressed by the sheer amount of information Senkuu was able to pull together in what had to be a few days max.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So...block the signal, stop the illness,” Gen surmised.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu sighed. “It’s not going to be that easy. First, we don’t even know what specifically is causing the distorted orders from the brain. And, on top of that, monitoring the messages the brain puts out is tricky and still fairly incomplete. Even if it wasn’t, we don’t have the materials I’d need to build an MRI or an EEG and even our old time’s tech hadn’t come up with a way to completely check a living brain’s chemical imbalance.” His eyes flicked up to Gen. “Plus, I don’t guess you became a psychiatrist without telling me, did you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah,” Gen held out empty hands, “unfortunately, I was more interested in the theory side rather than pharmaceuticals.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu nodded. “Yeah and I focused more on the other medical fields which means I know jackshit about how to make a psychiatric drug.” He rolled his shoulders. “I’m not actually a chemist, of course.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen stared at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What,” Senkuu asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You made antibiotics from </span>
  <em>
    <span>rocks,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Gen said flatly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah? So?” Senkuu crossed his arms in what, on other people, might be labeled as defensive...possibly even a pout. “I needed to know </span>
  <em>
    <span>some </span>
  </em>
  <span>chemistry if I was going to build a functional rocket--expanding it to basic medicine was just logical. Chemistry was mostly a hobby.” He caught Gen’s look. “Okay, an </span>
  <em>
    <span>extensive</span>
  </em>
  <span> hobby that apparently got a lot more use than I was expecting. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Whatever. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I’m still mainly an astrophysicist.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure, Senkuu-chan,” Gen said in a tone that was very clearly false appeasement, “you’re definitely, totally not a chemist.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu glared at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen smiled, beatific.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Anyway,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Senkuu said, “I think we’ll have better luck focusing on the stomach side. But, before that, there’s more questions we need to answer. Right now, the disease only has one known treatment--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“WAIT!” Gen nearly jumped off the table. “There’s already a cure and you’re just now mentioning it?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu huffed. “Because it’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>treatment, </span>
  </em>
  <span>not cure. And it’s not going to work for me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because the only known treatment is surgery that removes the plant out by its roots,” Senkuu answered. “And joke all you want about being a chemist; but, I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely</span>
  </em>
  <span> not a surgeon--especially one skilled or insane enough to operate on myself while I’m conscious. No one else in the village quite has the skills for experimental surgery, even if we were able to create a sterile environment.” He muttered the last bit under his breath. “Fuck, we really need to de-petrify some more doctors.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah,” Gen says, leaning back in his spot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu throws in a final caveat almost casually, shoulders unconsciously tense in a way that said it wasn’t. “And with surgery there’s the added side-effect that a predominant amount of patients report losing their ability to feel love. Which is another interesting symptom actually since it means the stomach sends input about the illness back to the brain.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen hummed, riding out the last science bit until Senkuu looked down at his notebook. This question was better when they weren’t facing each other. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Senkuu-chan; but, I never thought of you as the romantic type that would risk losing your life just so you could fall in love again. After all the hassle this has turned out to be, I’d think you’d appreciate it actually.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu didn’t look up, staying silent for long enough that Gen started to wonder if he should break it out of kindness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen didn’t because Gen had decided to be his true self and Gen’s true self wasn’t the type that prioritized kindness over useful knowledge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t have to debate for much longer anyway.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu ran a thumb along the notebook edges. “It’s not just romantic love that’s lost.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen blinked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu didn’t expand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So since we’re not going to find a cure there,” Senkuu continued, “there’s three parts I want to test most,” he raised a finger for each, “susceptibility, behavior that progresses the illness, and behaviors that slow it down. Once we have estimated guesses on all of those, we can move on to figuring out how to cure this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Susceptibility?” Gen tilted his head. “Isn’t that one obvious already--it’s unrequited love, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen wondered if he should stop mentioning the unrequited part or if that was going to make the disease worse? It was essentially dying of a broken heart, right? Bringing up Gen’s own lack of feelings probably didn’t help.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu didn’t look affected at all, instead grinning. “Ha, that’s assuming the feeling of ‘unrequited love’ or whatever is so easily quantified from a biological sense. It’s definitely not, by the way. But, I get what you mean. Some questions, then,” the grin widened, “if it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>only </span>
  </em>
  <span>because of unrequited love then why did it only pop up consistently about a decade ago in our time? And why is it not all cases of unrequited love? What makes me different than Taiju? He certainly pined about it forever without confessing. Or Chrome? When you get down to it, probably </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>had some kind of crush they didn’t talk about, so why isn’t everyone getting sick? For that matter, why’s the disease read </span>
  <em>
    <span>love </span>
  </em>
  <span>different from infatuation?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen thought about it and came up blank.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, I concede your case,” he said. “Why do I have the feeling you already have a theory?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe one or two.” Senkuu shrugged. “But, they’re the type that are going to be easier to disprove rather than prove--at least with our current technology. Nah, to be honest, the real thing that’s bugging me is the flower.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen raised a brow. “Yes, I can imagine since you’re the one who’s coughing them up and they’re apparently trying to split you in half.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu waved him off. “No, not that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How am I not surprised?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean the whole symbolic thing,” Senkuu said. “Why does my digestive system care that black nightshade is </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> flower? Better yet, how does it care? How does it know?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen thought….again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And failed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Senkuu-chan,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Gen moaned, “it’s too early for me to be thinking this hard. Especially about the floral preferences of intestines.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Technically, the intestines are--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Senkuu-chan,” Gen interrupted. “Bodily technicalities aside, I suppose since you were so kind about telling me your plans for handling this, I should open up about mine. Fair’s fair and all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your plan,” Senkuu echoed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen nodded amicably. “Yes, my plan.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fuck.” Senkuu made a face, “I thought you’d given up on the stupid overdramatic confession stuff. Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>trying</span>
  </em>
  <span> to make me gag, mentalist?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Brave words from the Hanahaki victim,” Gen remarked. “But, point taken; no, I’ve decided to swap tactics.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“To what.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Simple.” Gen’s grin was wide and far too sharp for smiling. “I’m going to convince you to fall out of love with me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu stared at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen continued to smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Finally, Senkuu gave a short laugh, rolling his eyes. “That fast, huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, undoubtedly.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think people fall out of love that easily, mentalist,” Senkuu said confidently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Gen did laugh this time, wild and mean.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Senkuu-chan, oh, Senkuu-chan,” he twisted the name along the air, batting his eyes. “I never took you for the innocent one. People fall out of love </span>
  <em>
    <span>all the time. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Crushes, marriages--it doesn’t matter--enough time and the feelings sour until the cute little things they used to find are the same ones they can’t get away from fast enough.” Gen hummed. “Honestly, the real marvel isn’t how to fall in love, it’s how anyone manages to stay in it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu raised a brow. “Didn’t think you’d be the one cynical about relationships.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I am.” Gen waved a hand like a parlor trick. “Feelings are the flightiest, most malleable things in the universe--take it from a mentalist.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Either way,” Senkuu said, “the trick doesn’t work as well when you tell me what you’re planning beforehand.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No trick,” Gen corrects. “The opposite of a trick, actually. I can promise you, Senkuu-chan, for as long as this takes, I’m going to be the truest version of me I can possibly be.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And that’s all it’ll take?” Senkuu sounded amused.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen let him be. Senkuu may know the hard sciences; but, Gen knew people.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Falling out of love? The easiest, most painful thing on the planet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep, that’s all it’ll take,” Gen promises. “Ah, Senkuu-chan, strange as it sounds, tons of infatuations fade from knowing a person </span>
  <em>
    <span>more, </span>
  </em>
  <span>not less. The mind’s powerful in its perception; but, once that’s broken, I’m afraid love doesn’t have much to go on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu shook his head, still smiling and not looking like he believed a word of it. “Such a cynic, mentalist.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe,” Gen agreed, “but a correct one. And one who’s only here because I know which of our plans is going to save your life faster.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’d be here anyway,” Senkuu said, utterly self-assured. “Not a millimetre chance you’d let me die without helping find a cure.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, you’re right, I wouldn’t.” Gen allowed. “But, you also can’t stop me from helping in my own way. Which means, dear Senkuu-chan, we’re at an impasse.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu grinned. “Science versus mentalism, then?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you wanted to phrase it like that.” Gen stuck out a hand. “Sure, a bet on who can cure you faster.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu shook it. “Sounds like a race”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Funny enough, Gen didn’t actually see Senkuu much for the week after that on account of </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually and literally dying!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>….okay, maybe not literally.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Metaphorically. Emotionally. Mentally. Fuck, probably even spiritually.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On all of those fronts, Gen might as well be six feet under already.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He pouted miserably, continuing to fold the magnesium batteries.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The </span>
  <em>
    <span>Eight Hundred</span>
  </em>
  <span> Magnesium Batteries.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was no amount of cheerful work songs that could make that better, Gen was practically wishing his fingers would just give up the ghost to dry up and fall off….if he wasn’t half-sure Senkuu would just sew them back on like some kind of weird Frankenstein hand model! And Gen liked his hands! Screw the Hanahaki Disease, Gen was going to kill Senkuu himself! </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He legitimately could not believe there weren’t other less mind-numbing tasks in the village that he could help on--he’d even take glassblowing with Kaseki right now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Beside him, Ruri was still humming along happily but Ruri might be an actual angel so Gen wasn’t bothering to hold himself to her standards.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She caught his pause and looked up herself. “And you used to have these batteries back in your old world?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” Gen held up the one in his hand, “though admittedly, I have no idea what’s the difference between these magnesium ones and the acid ones Senkuu hooked up to the water generator.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ruri nodded, looking thoughtful. “When I was growing up, I always believed that our hundred tales held the greatest achievements of all mankind.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“To be fair,” Gen said, “being able to maintain the level of detail you had over three thousand years </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>fairly impressive--even for oral histories.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ruri smiled. “Thank you. I am grateful for being able to keep our village’s history; but, I am even more grateful to now see how much it’s expanding.” She shook her head. “I never thought I’d live this long anyway and now to see all this, to listen to you tell of what used to be….” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I am glad that both you and Senkuu found our village, Gen. And, it’s selfish, but I’m even more glad I am the priestess that got to see it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen couldn’t help but smile back, holding up his hands. “Don’t speak too soon, sweet priestess, we still don’t know if we’ll live long enough to finish these batteries. All eight hundred of them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ruri laughed before sobering. “I’m sorry, though, sometimes I forget that for all the village is discovering this for the first time, this is all what you’ve lost. I’m sure it must be lonely. For you and Senkuu. Being the only ones in the village who remember your old world.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shrugged. “It’s not too bad.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What Gen didn’t say is that he didn’t have much in the old world to miss anyway--not that wasn’t replaceable, probably quicker than he expected when the Kingdom of Science really got up and running. Though for Senkuu…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hmm, that was a thought actually.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen filed it away as Ruri reached again for his hands, frowning this time as she got a better look at the calluses and cracks </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, your hands really are dry.” She looked up. “Have you tried the poultice that Senkuu made yet? I believe he was handing it out to all the elderly and the villagers who work outside.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Poultice,” Gen echoed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ruri nodded. “I believe he called it hand cream.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Of course, he fucking did. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Of course, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Senkuu had apparently re-invented lotion in who-knows-when free time and Gen was just finding out about it now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen stood up. “Excuse me, it seems I have business with our village’s leader and chief.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ruri grinned, looking like she wasn’t at all surprised. “I believe he’s still working in Chrome’s hut.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Excellent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen strode with purpose all the way to Chrome’s hut and knocked on the door just short of banging. “Oh, Senkuu-channnn?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen took that as permission, throwing open the door and climbing inside. “A little birdie told me you made something just </span>
  <em>
    <span>fascinating</span>
  </em>
  <span> the other day.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu raised a brow, looking positively smug. “Mentalist, I don’t know if you’ve noticed; but, I make fascinating things every day. You’re going to have to be more specific.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen did not hit him because Gen was a gentleman and, therefore, above those things even when Senkuu’s smirk was really, really punchable. More importantly, because punching people would crack his hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lotion,” Gen said bluntly. “Hand it over.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu cackled, pointing him to a large bowl sitting in the corner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen practically dove at it, scooping out a small handful and...</span>
  <em>
    <span>ah, bliss.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You seem happy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>am</span>
  </em>
  <span> happy.” Gen practically purred, grabbing another handful--it kinda smelled chemical-y; but, who was he to complain. “You would be, too, if you’d been hunched over putting together batteries for the past day and a half. Tell me, Senkuu-chan, I thought you needed me for experiments. How exactly are you supposed to be working on a cure if I’m half-dead by the end of the day.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, that was an experiment,” Senkuu said casually.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen stopped. “What.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure, there’s tons of tasks that need doing before we can make the cellphone,” Senkuu explained. “The battery one’s not the most complicated or hardest by any means; but, it’s ten billion percent the most mind numbing. I was planning to set it up as a rotating station. Then, I thought why not multitask? I wasn’t going to do anything too crazy; but, I was curious how it would affect the disease if I did something to intentionally annoy you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu was indeed a genius, Gen thought murderously, because Gen was in fact feeling very, very annoyed right now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu with his last stray spec of survival instinct seemed to notice. He rolled his eyes. “Relax, mentalist, I already finished that test and got my data. I won’t have any more experiments to purposely piss you off, cross my heart or whatever.” Proving said survival instinct was still more of a crapshoot, Senkuu then looked considering. “Though, having a replication study is always--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Senkuu-chan,” Gen interrupted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine, fine, since we’re on a timeline, I guess we can leave out replication on this one for now”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That wasn’t the resounding answer Gen wanted; but, it would do currently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Besides, Gen was curious. “....so, was there any negative effect?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu tilted his head, coughing mildly into his hand. “Some, but not enough for me to believe I significantly accelerated the course of the disease. Don’t worry, the two to three month timeline should still hold.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fuck, Senkuu was so insane sometimes. Why even </span>
  <em>
    <span>risk </span>
  </em>
  <span>making the disease kill him faster--the maniac.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Things like this was why Gen had his own plan. Speaking of which…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Senkuu-chan,” Gen drew up next to him, “so, I was talking to Ruri--you know while I was in danger of losing a hand for the sake of your experiments--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t be dramatic; it was still just some batteries.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“--and she mentioned how lonely it must be,” Gen sighed, making his tone wistful, “being the only modern men here, I mean.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu paused to look at him. “You going somewhere with this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“In fact, I am.” Gen tapped his chin. “Indulge me, won’t you, Senkuu-chan? Did you have much experience with crushes back in our old world? Lots of dates? A serial heartbreaker, mayhaps?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now, Senkuu just looked annoyed. “No.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen wasn’t all that surprised. “Any crushes at all?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A few--none that were particularly noteworthy.” Senkuu shrugged. “This isn’t one but when I was four, I somehow got in my head I’d marry Dr. Mamoru, the first Japanese astronaut, so he could get me in JAXA. I remember being </span>
  <em>
    <span>devastated</span>
  </em>
  <span> when Byakuya told me he was already in his fifties by the time I was born.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen hid his smile in his sleeve. “That’s very cute, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut up and get to your point.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have a theory.” Gen spread his arms wide. “Here we are, both strangers lost in a new world. The only ones that can relate to what the world used to be like and what all we lost. Put like that, it’s only natural that we’d develop an attachment to each other.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu stared at him. “Are you really trying to go down the Stockholm Syndrome route, mentalist?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Weeeelll, maybe not Stockholm Syndrome--we’re missing a few key ingredients and the power structure for that.” Gen pretended to think. “Though if you keep making me make batteries, I won’t lie, I might start developing very warm fuzzy feelings for Tsukasa. We’ll see.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Most shallow man in the world,” Senkuu accused.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why thank you.” Gen got serious. “But, it has been shown that the oxytocin system is tied to the ability to recover from stress, including traumatic events like say getting petrified for thousands of years and waking up in a new world. And I’m sure, as you also know, the oxytocin system is also tied to another important psychological response--bonding, attachment development. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Love, </span>
  </em>
  <span>some would say.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Missing a few other chemicals there--and by a few, I mean like five. But, sure, oxytocin’s one of them.” Senkuu crossed his arms. “And you’re saying this because…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m saying,” Gen continued as gently as he could, “that maybe we’re in a world where we’re both prone to search for a lost connection, an attachment to our old world. For both of us, but maybe especially for someone who didn’t have much interest in crushes before this, having one now could feel exceptionally strong….could even feel like love.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu picked at his ear. “Okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen’s gentle expression dropped.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Okay,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> he repeated flatly. “You’re not even going to try to argue with me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“About what?” Senkuu shrugged. “You know way more about psychology than me. For all I know you’re right and my emotions do feel more extreme because of the whole petrification thing. I just don’t see your point.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My point!” Gen almost shrieked. “My point is it’s not real! It’s just some kind of illogical response to trauma! You’re not in love with me. Alright?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu rolled his eyes. “Congratulations, mentalist, I’m cured.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen gave up and pouted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Though, honestly,” Senkuu continued, “if you’re going for the whole everything I feel here is a trauma reaction, I think you’re overselling yourself a bit. Maybe for </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but I was already awake almost a year here before I even met you. If I was going to trauma bond with anyone, the easy choice would’ve been Taiju--at least, I already was friends with him before all this and we spent months just us working on the revival fluid. So, really if that’s your theory then--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I get it,” Gen interrupted sourly. “And I take it you’re not having any romantic feelings about Taiju, too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu snorted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, reactions aren’t always logical,” Gen recovered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All feelings are illogical,” Senkuu said. “They’re not </span>
  <em>
    <span>supposed</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be based solely on rationality. That’s why humans get to make their own choices about whether they want to act on them. Feelings may get you into a relationship; but, without actually thinking about what that relationship is going to take to last, of course, it’s going to fail. ” He grimaced, hand going to his stomach. “It’s the biggest reason why this fucking disease sucks</span>
  <em>
    <span>. </span>
  </em>
  <span>It tries to take away the choice.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The romantics would probably say it helps the choice along,” Gen mused.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu glare was withering.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t give me that,” Gen held up his hands in defense. “I never said </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>was a romantic. You should know better by now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu huffed. “I don’t care what romantics say. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Everybody</span>
  </em>
  <span> deserves a choice. And there can be tons of reasons not to confess that have nothing to do with fear. Shit, even if it is just fear keeping people from confessing, why does that mean a </span>
  <em>
    <span>disease </span>
  </em>
  <span>gets to decide for you instead? What if the person doesn’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>want</span>
  </em>
  <span> a relationship? What if it’s not the right time? What if it’s a person they don’t want to be in love with--like their best friend’s girlfriend or their boss? What if they have other things they want to focus on? What if they don’t want a relationship because </span>
  <em>
    <span>they just don’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>? It’s always supposed to be a choice--not whether you have feelings but whether you want to act on them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu’s jaw shut so hard, his teeth ground. “That’s why we need to </span>
  <em>
    <span>cure </span>
  </em>
  <span>this disease, not just stop it for me. For everyone.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen watched him perceptively.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He saw the tension in his shoulders, the way his hand was clenched along the basket.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For the first time, Gen actually wondered about what this disease means for Senkuu. To be blunt, the idea of Senkuu having a crush in the first place--let alone being in love--still felt pretty foreign, like a possibility Gen never thought to account for and now had trouble wrapping his brain around even when the proof was right in front of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The words </span>
  <em>
    <span>crush </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>Senkuu </span>
  </em>
  <span>felt so separate that Senkuu--the man that always moved based on his own plans alone--not even getting to evaluate what he wanted for himself now seemed so strikingly and inherently wrong.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen never even asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He did now, leaning his chin in his hands. “What about you, Senkuu-chan. Do you actually want a relationship?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu didn’t look at him. “What I </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>is to find a cure so I can actually answer that question without stupid flowers trying to strangle me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen’s lip quirked up unbidden. “Fair enough.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anyway.” Senkuu stood up. “Quit ditching Ruri, we both need to get back to work.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen winced. “What? But, I thought your experiment was over? You don’t need to annoy me with batteries anymore!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, so?” Senkuu shrugged. “We still need the batteries done. Quit complaining, you’ll be done soon enough anyway.” He held up the basket. “Plus, I’ve got the material I need for the speakers which means we’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost </span>
  </em>
  <span>ready to get this thing up and running.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With practice hiding emotions, Gen ignored the spark of excitement that ran up his back at that, to actually see a phone working in a stone world.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>….though, admittedly, “almost” in Senkuu’s words meant a full night of backbreaking labor for anyone else so he probably shouldn’t be too excited.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked longingly at the large bowl of hand lotion, wondering if there was any way he could take a small bit with him without having the lotion dry up in the next few days.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Here.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A small glass jar tumbled through the air and Gen caught it, finding a small sealed container of lotion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just keep it,” Senkuu told him, “it’s an extra. I was messing around with a few oils to get rid of the chemical smell and none of them turned out exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>great</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Least if you use it, it’s not a waste of materials.” Senkuu grinned cockily, starting his way down the ladder. “Besides, now, you don’t have any excuse to complain about cracked knuckles. That should double your work, right, mentalist?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen huffed at the door even when he knew Senkuu couldn’t see it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Curious, he brought the jar up for further examination, pulling back the cloth cover and bracing himself for an overpowering--</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen blinked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Actually the lotion smelled fine--lightly floral even in a way that, yes, may never match the level of their old cosmetic stores but was still pleasing in its own way.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He closed the container, eyes going to the door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stupid Senkuu-chan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a stone world, it sometimes felt like time moved too fast.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because it felt like no time passed at all from the exhaustion of finishing the first cell phone and Senkuu’s crafty mention that they needed another, then to testing the first phone, then the recording’s reveal, then building a record player, then finally getting to listen to the founder’s recording and hearing Lilian Weinberg--</span>
  <em>
    <span>the Lilian Weinberg</span>
  </em>
  <span>--sing for the first time in three thousand years.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The village had decided to throw a celebration after that--though whether it was for the rediscovery of music, the finished phone, or just because was anyone’s guess.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A party was all well and good; but, personally, Gen had other ideas in mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Specifically about the one man that had slipped away while the rest of the villagers were preoccupied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen found him in the observatory, not that it was any particular surprise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu was leaning beside his telescope, not even bothering to look through it and instead staring up at the moon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Looking for shooting stars,” Gen asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu glanced back and shrugged. “Eh, not really. Then again, for all I know there could be a meteor shower tonight. Our old astronomical calendars didn’t really get into specific dates after the first few centuries--or if they did, I don’t remember them anymore.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen sat beside him. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What would you wish for,” Gen asked, figuring it was as good of an opening as any to start this conversation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nitric acid or an industrial strength cutting lazer.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nevermind. Forgot who he was talking to, somehow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen pouted. “You’re the </span>
  <em>
    <span>worst</span>
  </em>
  <span> at this game, you know that, Senkuu-chan?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wishing on frozen rocks hurtling through space isn’t worth the time.” Senkuu smirked, tilting his head back. “....speaking of, you know what’s a dumb thing to still be pissed about?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu let out a low huff. “Back in our old world, there’s one time every year where Earth’s orbit gets the closest Jupiter’s--the opposition of Jupiter. Best time to see it all year, close enough I could even make out the cloud bands.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bet you had it marked in your calendar, didn’t you,” Gen teased. “Or did you memorize it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Doesn’t matter.” Senkuu rolled his eyes. “Opposition of Jupiter was June tenth, petrification was the third--I missed it by a week, a </span>
  <em>
    <span>week</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ouch.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tell me about it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think I remember much astronomical stuff,” Gen admitted. He cocked his brow. “Though if you want </span>
  <em>
    <span>astrology…</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hard pass.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen chuckled. “I guess I know a few. Eclipses. Blue moons. What’s that comet one? The big famous one? Hal’s, no....Halley’s Comet?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Senkuu smiled. “If it makes you feel better, Halley’s orbit is still of the rarer ones--for a human lifespan, I mean. Only comes around every seventy-five or so years, so we’ve only missed around fifty.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s still around?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure,” Senkuu said easily. “We still got about...let’s say at least ninety-five thousand years before it’s in danger of dying out.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That long?” Gen moaned. “And I thought three thousand was bad.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu sighed. “Three thousand years </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>a long time. Yeah, it’s got nothing on a geological age; but, it doesn’t mean things still aren’t changing out there.” He nodded up at the sky. “Even the North Star isn’t quite in the same place anymore.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen blinked, squinting up at the sky and wondering how Senkuu could tell in the first place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not to mention all the exploratory data that was lost,” Senkuu grumbled. “All the rovers that ended up sending readings back to </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing, </span>
  </em>
  <span>the monitoring equipment that’s burned or froze away by now. Fuck, entire planet surfaces could have shifted--all our information could be outdated--and we don’t even know it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yet,” Gen said softly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...yeah. Yet.” Senkuu shifted, looking up at the sky rather than Gen. “Thanks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t mention it,” Gen cleared his throat. “Actually, I came up here to see if you were okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu turned back to him. “Yeah, I’m alright. The disease wasn’t that much worse than normal today--which is good, too, it’d have been annoying if it was acting up when we were finally getting the phone to work”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I more meant the record,” Gen clarified. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” Senkuu took a breath. “I’m fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t have to be. Hearing your father’s voice again and on something he specifically left for you...” Gen shrugged. “It’s alright if you’re not fine, you know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu’s smile was a very Senkuu thing--too dry to be called soft and too soft to really be dry. “It’s not like I didn’t already know he was dead.” He hesitated. “When I was stuck in there, when I first got out, I thought that </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe</span>
  </em>
  <span> there was a chance him and the crew had gotten petrified like everyone else when they got back to Earth; but, even then I knew the odds were…,” Senkuu stopped and started again. “Anyway, I heard from Ruri already months ago. The record didn’t change anything. So, yeah, I’m fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen didn’t know if he believed him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But, Senkuu clearly wanted to change the subject anyway, leaning back and rubbing at his neck. “The real part that’s going to suck is breaking it to Taiju and Yuzuriha. They were pretty close to him, too, especially Taiju. It was kinda crazy, actually. Dad even kept this orange sherbet ice cream in the fridge because it was Taiju’s favorite--never mind that Dad was </span>
  <em>
    <span>allergic</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your dad was the cool dad, wasn’t he,” Gen asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu snorted. “No, but he thought he was. Definitely not cool.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmmm, why do I feel like Taiju and Yuzuriha would say different?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Only because they were bribed.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But, Senkuu was actually smiling again and Gen took it as a job well done.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>….at least, until Senkuu suddenly bent over, coughing hard in his hands and shoulders jerking, and Gen was suddenly slammed right back into the reality of the situation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Right, Senkuu was dying. Would die unless they succeeded in another of Senkuu’s impossible miracle drugs or Gen’s much more likely plan of defusing whatever Senkuu’s body chemistry was calling love.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu finally stopped coughing, hand sliding behind his back before Gen could see what was there--not that he couldn’t already guess.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think that was just residual from earlier, not anything we did,” Senkuu said, voice markedly even. “Hard day’s work probably just irritated it more.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen eyed him pointedly. “Then, why not take a break?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think any of us can afford to do much of that right now. Not with Tsukasa coming.” He paused before adding. “Besides, if I looked too out of it, Chrome or Kohaku would definitely notice something was up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“About that,” Gen said. “Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>sure </span>
  </em>
  <span>you don’t want to tell the rest of the village?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu sighed. “I don’t really see how it would help. No offense to Chrome or the rest of them, but they only got access to most of this science a few months ago. They’re learning. Realistically, I think the only one who’s got a chance of figuring out the medicine behind this is me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That I’m not arguing.” Gen frowned. “I meant are you sure you don’t want to tell them because this is going to get worse and probably soon. Not to mention, there’s always the slim chance we don’t figure this out in time and well….,” He closed his eyes and breathed before opening them again. “It’s your choice and I’ll respect whatever you choose. But….the point is if this doesn’t work out, the village would want to know. To be there for you. A few of them especially--Chrome and Kohaku included.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu stayed quiet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” he said finally. “I don’t want to tell them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen swallowed before nodding. “Then, we won’t.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he hoped they wouldn’t hate him for it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu cleared his throat before smirking, a stilted copy of what it usually was. “Besides, there’s no point if it’s just going to take them from work. We’re going to cure this thing. Of that, I’m a billion percent certain. Telling them now and having them worry is pointless, especially when everything’s going to be fixed soon anyway. Worse it’s a distraction that we don’t need right now when everyone should be working on the second phone. I need all my workers focused.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>How very like Senkuu.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To have an emotional reason, only to go back and cover it as logic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu who gave out cotton candy to a girl far away from home and sold it as a strategy tactic. Senkuu who claimed that guilt over leading the village to war was illogical yet didn’t even put up a fight when he thought they were selling him out to the enemy. Senkuu who spoke about logic and probability and practicality and knew how to make gunpowder in a few hours but wanted a bloodless war. Senkuu who didn’t want his friends to worry but played it off like it was self-serving.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu who fell in love and treated it like a research project.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s not just romantic love that’s lost.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh and Gen finally got it now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because it had never been romantic love that drove Senkuu--not by far. Gen tried to picture a Senkuu without his love of science, his friends, his father, the village, and his dreams of space. And all he could come up with is something blank and cold. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d never considered; but, Senkuu really was made of the things he loved, wasn’t he?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>….and Gen had to wonder if it wasn’t for the disease, would Senkuu ever have said anything at all about his apparent crush?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen thought that he knew the answer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No. Not if Senkuu didn’t see a benefit there, not if he already knew Gen didn’t feel the same way. Even for a mentalist, Senkuu was surprisingly adept at hiding how he felt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>How irritating and entertaining, in equal measures.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s with </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>face, mentalist,” Senkuu interrupted his thoughts. “Makes you look like you’re plotting something stupid.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmmm, does it really? Well...it actually is nothing this time. Just thinking.” Gen mulled it over before saying. “I have a question; but, you don’t have to answer it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds pretty pointless, then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tt, I swear you’re difficult on purpose.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>An eye roll. “Ask the question.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine.” Gen propped his head in his hand and examined Senkuu through his lashes. “You know, I’ll admit, Senkuu-chan, before all this terrible flower business, I thought you were asexual--or, I suppose, somewhere on that continuum. And even with this, you still could be, of course. But are you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Senkuu...Senkuu </span>
  <em>
    <span>blushed</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Time stopped. Fuck, the world might’ve actually stopped turning and Gen wouldn’t have noticed anything out of this observatory.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t even know Senkuu was capable of blushing--theoretically, sure, but then again if anyone could and would find a scientific preventative for normal physiological emotional indicators, it was him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen grinned</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh, and it was a really terrible blush, too. Senkuu’s lighter complexion didn’t help </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span> when pale red bloomed up his neck and over his cheeks, all the way up to his ears.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The only pity was that it didn’t last long.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Like all things, Senkuu adapted quickly until all that was left was fading pink. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then he cleared his throat, speaking clearly if slightly forced. “Oh...no, I’m not.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And that was interesting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen grin widened. “Okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu gave him an exacerbated look. “Oi, quit looking like that, it’s not like it matters for this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure, Senkuu-chan,” Gen said and not like he was listening at all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu sighed, giving up the argument and laying back to ignore Gen instead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anyway,” Senkuu said pointedly and apparently they were moving on, “according to all the village elders, we’re looking towards a long winter. We’ve still got the other cell tower to make so that’ll keep most of the village busy, plus the usual winter prep and a few smaller projects I might’ve thought of recently.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gen rolled his eyes. “Of course, you did.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu continued undaunted. “But, the good part is that theoretically they’ve already made one phone so they should just need me around for monitoring and mixing a few chemicals. That’ll give me enough time to move on to the big step of how we’re figuring out this disease.” He stretched back on the observatory floor. “We’re moving on from observation and preliminary research and starting on the main experimentation stage.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hmm, and there was no way Gen was walking away from an opening like that.</span>
</p>
<p><span>He made a show of gasping. “Oh ho, is Senkuu-chan saying he wants to ‘experiment’</span> <span>with me?”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Senkuu rolled his eyes, turning back up to the stars with a faint smile and sadly not a hint of a blush in sight. He really did adapt too quickly, Gen bemoaned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just go to sleep, mentalist.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey, guys, thank you so much for all your support from the first chapter! I'm seriously so appreciative and hope you enjoyed this next chapter!</p>
<p>Always feel free to find me on tumblr: https://greycappedjester.tumblr.com/</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Any Version of Reality</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*Shows up a months later with coffee* Oops. </p><p>Thanks for the patience while I dealt with catching up, guys. And this chapter's a long one (like longer than the first two combined) so hopefully that makes up for the wait. Since fourth chapter is like partially written already just from things cut from this one, it shouldn't be that long of a wait.</p><p>Also, general disclaimer, I am still not a biologist, chemist, neurologist, psychologist, etc., etc. </p><p>Warning for general medical discussion and casual discussion of global epidemics (especially in the first scene that's in Gen's POV)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Step 3: Experimentation. After all available data has been gathered and analyzed, testing can begin. This step is categorized by trial and error--from creating a hypothesis, to testing its validity, to observing results, and to re-adjusting the hypothesis based on those effects.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the morning of January 5, 5740, Senkuu woke up for the first time to a painful cough and black nightshade petals.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had one conscious thought and that was what he chose to focus on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But before his conscious mind came into play, he had four unconscious reactions, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first was confusion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The second was denial.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu was still blinking the sleep away, trying to put two and two together and failing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanahaki Disease. A clear and logical observation of his symptoms would suggest Hanahaki Disease. That’s what Senkuu himself would suggest if it was anything but his own body coughing up the flowers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, that was impossible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There wasn’t a millimetre's chance that Senkuu had Hanahaki Disease. First, because the odds alone were astronomical that he just happened to wake up in the stone world, three thousand years after the last documented case, with a disease that affected maybe every one out of ten million in his day. Seriously? Sure, there was evidence the cases had been getting more frequent and, yeah, Senkuu’s luck had never been the greatest, but that didn’t…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That didn’t mean anything because Senkuu wasn’t in love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And if there was one thing every case registered had in common it was the patient exhibiting some form of unrequited love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu wasn’t in love so it wasn’t Hanahaki.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He continued to stare at the flowers, crushed and stained in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Black Nightshade.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu turned and his eyes fell on the telescope. Unbidden, he thought of strange white and black hair, of a scar that looked like fangs, of gestures that danced and words that lilted, of lips that pulled into a smirk and how his hands sometimes itched to drag that face closer and…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Most of all, he remembered the presence behind it. A force of nature that was in turns frustrating and challenging and amusing and sharp and kind and threw out phrases that would make even Senkuu stop and hesitate for a moment, breaking them down like a puzzle and finding himself a little steadier in the process.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Huh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, he was in love with Gen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking back, that made a whole bunch of smaller impulses make a lot more sense. Senkuu would almost feel offended that it took him this long to realize; but, then again, he never claimed deep emotional reflection as one of his specialties. Whatever. He knew now and didn’t really see a point in doing anything else with it so, overall, the revelation was pretty useless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked down at the flowers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he really did have Hanahaki Disease, apparently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The full impact of that realization hit him a second later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>….</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen had thoughts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That in and of itself wasn’t very surprising, Gen prided himself as the type of person who had a lot of thoughts, though maybe not as scientifically inclined as his newfound companions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, these particular thoughts were centered around an aspect of Hanahaki that Gen had never truly dwelled on until he was all but forced into it and now that he’d started thinking about it, he couldn’t stop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu was dying. Senkuu was dying </span>
  <em>
    <span>because he was in love.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>These thoughts weren’t new. In fact, within the past few weeks of knowing about the disease, Gen felt like he’d considered these two statements from every possible way he could look at them as facts. And that’s what they were--just facts now. Facts that both of which Gen was very much working on changing, yes, but still facts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a third fact, though. One that Gen had been slower coming to truly grasp and wasn’t sure what to do with it now that it laid in his hands and stained like blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu was dying. Senkuu was dying because he was in love. Senkuu was dying because he was in love </span>
  <em>
    <span>and Gen didn’t love him back.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>That was what unrequited love meant, after all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hanahaki had never been a disease of love, only of heartbreak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that’s what no one ever talked about. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>How selfish, how cruel, how cold to be the one someone loved to death and never to return it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because if things didn’t work out, if Senkuu </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>die, then wouldn’t it be Gen’s fault two times over? Once for doing whatever it was that Senkuu believed himself in love with. Twice for not being able to stop it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen wasn’t in love; but, apparently, he was managing guilt just fine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu really was right. Hanahaki was a nightmare--leaving no choice but pressuring everybody involved until they broke down one way or another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Terrible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen stepped into the lab.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu nodded at him in greeting, doing something or other with wires hooked up to one of Gen’s hard-won batteries</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Morning.” Gen sat in his now usual spot on the table, “Did you know for Japan in our time, one out of three marriages ended in divorce--the rate’s even higher in some Western countries? Most commonly for money troubles, constant arguing, or infidelity.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And a good morning to you, too, mentalist.” Senkuu finally sat up, looking amused. “Quoting statistics is one of your weaker attempts, though. Giving up already?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mhm, I’ll admit to being distracted recently,” Gen muttered, rubbing at his eyes that probably showed dark circles by now. Ugh. “Still, not a good case for eternal love, is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m curious. Is there a reason you happen to remember our old world’s divorce statistics or did you make them up on the spot and hoped I wouldn’t call you on it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ai, Senkuu-chan, how lowly you think of me!” Gen held a hand to his chest. “They’re real statistics, thank you very much.” The hand dropped. “As for why I know….well, reading body language and micro-expressions can only get you so far, after all--eventually, you do have to factor in probability for </span>
  <em>
    <span>what </span>
  </em>
  <span>they’re thinking about. I memorized a lot of demographics for my old mentalism readings back in the day. Try asking me what percent of people’s last names start with ‘H’.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s definitely cheating.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s the job, Senkuu-chan.” Gen shook his head in mock disappointment. “And here I thought you’d appreciate my dedication to research.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu snorted. “What are you distracted about?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pardon?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You said you were distracted lately,” Senkuu clarified. “About what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah.” Gen debated. “Well, isn’t there plenty to be thinking about? And really so much possible I could be distracted with. It’s a terribly hard life for poor hard working mentalists these days.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu rolled his eyes, turning back to his project. “Fine, don’t tell me and keep worrying about it then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen considered and, then, he considered some more. The price of vulnerability in turn for the disillusionment that Senkuu’s crush would eventually move on to. A tough decision, especially for a truth that Gen didn’t particularly want to admit to and maybe especially not to Senkuu. But, then, what about the possible benefit? Gen himself didn’t even like this part of him so it was likely Senkuu would dislike it even more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because the truth was Gen had never been a </span>
  <em>
    <span>kind </span>
  </em>
  <span>person. He could only pretend to be. He could throw on a mask; but ruthless pragmatism and self-serving motivations would always be cold rather than warm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen knew himself. It wasn’t anything to fall in love with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, the darker truth. The one that when he dwelled on it too long made even Gen shiver, laying always alone in the dark even on the nights he wasn’t by himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, he never denied it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen wasn’t anything that </span>
  <em>
    <span>could</span>
  </em>
  <span> fall in love. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Even he wasn’t capable of that kind of a lie--even with as sweetly poisoned a lie it would be to believe in things like love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What kind of person did that make him, he wondered. Maybe just the shallowest man in the world.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen shook his head and made his choice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know….I don’t think I actually believe in love,” Gen said finally. “It doesn’t exist, not anything stable enough to trust for ‘forever’. That’s just a fantasy. A temporary illusion. Love doesn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>exist…</span>
  </em>
  <span>.Or maybe that’s not quite right. People can love their family, their friends, their job. Whatever. People can even do the whole romance thing. I believe in attraction, in similarity, in liking, even in compatibility. But as far as what people talk about like ‘true love’, ‘soulmates’, </span>
  <em>
    <span>forever, </span>
  </em>
  <span>that’s impossible.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He drew his fingers through the air like someone popping a bubble. “People just don’t understand each other that well, they don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>each other. How could they? We barely can parse through our own thoughts half the time and we think we know enough about </span>
  <em>
    <span>another person </span>
  </em>
  <span>to think that they’re the ‘one’ or whatnot. It’s ridiculous, childish even.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you’re right.” Senkuu shrugged. “Sounds pretty unlikely when you say it like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen thought he knew Senkuu well enough to know that wasn’t all he had to say. “And?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you’re over complicating things,” Senkuu finished. “Who cares if soulmates and true love exists. Who can prove that? Just get down to the basics. You don’t have to know everything they’ve ever thought to understand someone.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And when you’re wrong?” Gen tilted his head. “It’s basically an inevitability, after all. Even more so because people change. What happens when you realize you </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>understand everything. Can never understand. That the person you’re so </span>
  <em>
    <span>dedicated </span>
  </em>
  <span>to isn’t at all the picture you built up. Are we still calling that love, then, </span>
  <em>
    <span>hmm, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Senkuu-chan? Or just a pretty lie.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu glanced up. “You’re so weird.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which wasn’t any of the answers Gen had been planning for. “What’s that supposed to mean? Ducking the question?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, because it’s pointless,” Senkuu agreed unbothered. “And what I mean is what I said. You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>so weird. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I can’t tell if you’re a cynic or a romantic.” His lip twitched. “Maybe an idealist with workaholic tendencies. That fits.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was an irony in Senkuu calling </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone else </span>
  </em>
  <span>a workaholic; but, Gen set that aside for the more irritating issue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m neither an idealist or a romantic, Senkuu-chan,” Gen said coolly. “Trust me on that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, you aren’t. And love’s gotta be this whole mystical mind reading exam you’re talking about.” Senkuu snorted. “Not everyone’s a mentalist, </span>
  <em>
    <span>mentalist</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Some of us accept we can’t pick literally every person apart. Some of us care about people, anyway.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The comment dug deeper than Senkuu probably intended.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not like I’m heartless,” Gen said before he could think about it. “Just because I can’t force myself to be in love doesn’t mean I don’t care.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a pause. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen fought back a wince. He didn’t mean to say exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu blinked before frowning, brow drawing together. “I know you do. I didn’t say that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I…,” Gen caught himself again, “I know you didn’t. Forget it, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu didn’t forget it. Of course, he didn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d never want you to force yourself to feel anything,” Senkuu continued seriously. “I’d never want you to even try</span>
  <em>
    <span>. Are</span>
  </em>
  <span> you trying to do that? Stop.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen sighed, already regretting talking in the first place. “I’m not, don’t worry. I know I can’t. Like I said, I don’t even believe in love in the first place--not like other people do. It would be pointless to try.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it would.” Senkuu agreed. “So, what are you upset about?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That you’re--,” Gen pinched the bridge of his nose. “Whatever. I feel guilty, </span>
  <em>
    <span>okay</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There. He said it. Now, maybe they could move on and Gen would never make the mistake of talking about his feelings again….at least until the next time he decided it was useful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu’s nose wrinkled. “Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen sighed like a man shackled. “For being irresistible, I suppose.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Sure, mentalist.” Senkuu snorted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that was...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Rude</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Senkuu-chan,” Gen complained. “You know, for someone coughing up flowers, you’re really bad at the whole romance part.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu ignored him. “Feeling guilt about any of this is pretty stupid. Really--except for existing, I guess--your actions don’t actually have anything to do with it. It’s the disease that’s causing it. It’s my body that’s got some kind of chemical imbalance that’s letting plants grow inside it. And it’s something in my emotions that decided to latch onto you.” Senkuu’s look went smug. “And I’m the one who’s testing it and making a cure. Like I said, other than literally just existing and showing up everyday, you’re kind of superfluous to the whole thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen stared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I feel…,” Gen actually had to stop and think about it for a second, “I feel like I should be offended by that; but, I’m not quite sure where and how.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu grinned. “Are you still feeling guilty?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen considered again before frowning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shrugged. “Not as much, I suppose.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good,” Senkuu said, “we have work to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, then, Senkuu turned back down to his mess of wires. Gen rubbed his head. He thought he might actually have gotten a headache from trying to follow Senkuu’s twisted logic but there; but, despite it all….Gen did feel a little more settled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, Gen could do that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Actually...no, Gen couldn’t; but, he could sit here and make a cooperative research partner while Senkuu did the work around him. In the couple of weeks, Senkuu had moved to full on experiment mode. Which…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hmm, well, it was too weird to be called boring; but, it still wasn’t anything Gen would have expected from research on a love disease. In fact, it mainly just consisted of Gen doing whatever completely normal task Senkuu told him for the day while Senkuu kept an ongoing monitor of his blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate, and whatever other measures that he was apparently using to get information. One time, he’d just asked Gen to have a regular conversation with him while Senkuu pinched his own arm every once in a while, varying time increments. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, yes, weird--very, very weird.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, it did seem that Senkuu was getting some results out of it. He’d at the very least come to a few conclusions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>One: Gen giving any manner of compliments, confessions, rejections, or insults--no effect, just like they’d expected from Gen’s earlier failed attempt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two: Strenuous physical activity--some negative impact but Senkuu was convinced that was normal aggravation of the disease rather than it worsening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Three: Proximity tests, which were mainly done by Gen working either at the opposite side of the village or taking a few outside the village excursions--mixed results.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At this point, Gen could believe Senkuu was working towards some kind of theory but he had absolutely no idea what it was or how long it would take to get there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glanced down at the mess of wires.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is that, anyway,” Gen said, only half curious and already expecting the answer to have more technical terminology than he knew what to do with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The setup for electroconvulsive testing,” Senkuu answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yep, sounded right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Great, that should--” Gen blinked as the words processed. “Wait. Are you talking about </span>
  <em>
    <span>electroshock therapy?!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, basically,” Senkuu said, unconcerned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen stared. “You know that was banned decades ago for unethical practice and cognitive impairment, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Technically, that would be millennia ago,” Senkuu said and continued to miss the point entirely. “Plus, Japan never actually banned it--it was still in use for some rare forms of treatment, actually.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“With </span>
  <span><em>anesthesia</em>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen swears, actually swears, that Senkuu’s about one small trip away from </span>
  <em>
    <span>literal</span>
  </em>
  <span> mad scientists sometimes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Relax,” Senkuu said. “This set up here doesn’t have anywhere near the voltage the old machines used. Plus, there’s no way we have the tech or expertise to set this up as a legitimate treatment option. I’m using this for an experiment.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was only slightly better. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For what,” Gen asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu grinned. “I’m going to give myself a mild shock whenever you start talking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen squinted, piecing that together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“....like aversion therapy,” Gen asked cautiously. “Are you seriously trying to associate me with pain here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Senkuu said flatly. “I doubt that would work anyway--love’s a lot more complicated than the behaviors aversion deals with. If anything, I’d just associate the sound of your voice with pain. But, that would take prolonged use and multiple exposure; I’m only planning on using this once.” He smirked up at him. “Plus, I already associate half the shit you say with pain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, very funny, Senkuu-chan” Gen said. “So, what are you really doing with it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I needed a more exact instrument.” Senkuu touched the wires together, testing if there was a spark. “Theoretically, the brain has to be processing ‘unrequited love’ or whatever with some kind of chemicals or electrical indicator. If that’s the case, the most logical substitute for heartbreak would be a pain response or increased anxiety.” He attached a sensor to his arm. “Physical pain’s easier to test than anxiety, so, that’s what I’m starting with. Pinching my arm worked...alright; but, the results were mixed and I couldn’t tell if I was applying the exact same amount of pressure or if the nerve was just getting used to it. Electroshock will work better for a baseline effect.” He finished attaching the last sensor, three lining each arm. “Plus, I can alternate the nerve. See?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess that will--” Gen started before Senkuu pressed a button and flinched. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Really?”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Just keep talking, mentalist,” Senkuu said, one hand on his notebook and the other checking his pulse. “It’s working fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen sighed and got ready for another of the strangest conversations of his life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you want me to talk about?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another button, another shock before Senkuu answered. “Doesn’t matter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t think of anything to say </span>
  <em>
    <span>now.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span> “Come on, normally you don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever </span>
  </em>
  <span>have a problem talking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>normally</span>
  </em>
  <span>, people don’t flinch whenever I speak.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure about that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ha ha,” Gen drawled, he cast around for something to say. “Fine, the weather’s been nice lately. You know, for how much the elders kept talking about how this winter would be especially terrible, the storms really haven’t been that bad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, last one wasn’t too bad with storms either, just cold.” Senkuu made another note. “I think it’s more a long winter than a bad one. ‘Course, I guess, that’s the same thing for the village if they didn’t have a way to store food. Wouldn’t be the storms, it’d be how long the supplies could last.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen considered and found that fair. “I suppose with the pickled food, we don’t really have to worry. I wonder how the Empire of Might’s handling it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mhm, Yuzuriha may be able to help them some with canning.” Another note. Senkuu was getting better at not flinching. “My guess is they’re mostly hunting.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen wrinkled his nose. “What a bother.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu snorted. “Yeah, definitely. But, still some advantages--they spend more time outside probably. More healthy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“True.” Gen titled his head. “But, I don’t think you have to worry that much about the village getting exercise, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m ten billion percent not worried about </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Senkuu rolled his eyes. “I meant disease. Huts, like the village has, mean more people closed in together--especially in winter. It’s a perfect condition for viruses.” He stuck his makeshift pencil in his mouth, did a quick check of his pulse while writing, before continuing. “For Tsukasa’s empire, as long as they’re not dumb enough to risk lowering their immune systems from hypothermia, being in open space is absolutely more effective.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh.” In the strange new world, Gen had all but forgotten about things like the seasonal flu. “But, that’s not something we need to worry about too much, is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, not any more than usual.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen let out a breath in relief. “Well, that’s good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Senkuu said they were safe, then they were safe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, then, Senkuu had to continue. “After all, with viruses, we’d all be completely screwed no matter how you look at it. So, there’s no point in worrying about just one. Plus, increased anxiety lowers your immune system which, you know...” He let the sentence trail off, checking the wires.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen looked up. “Sorry, what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Think about it,” Senkuu </span>
  <em>
    <span>shrugged. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Just because we were stuck in stone doesn’t mean the rest of the world wasn’t still evolving--viruses and bacteria included. All our old vaccines are definitely useless.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Gen said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then, add to that,” Senkuu continued, “we’ve got the villagers that have spent the past three thousand years developing immune systems for shit we’ve never even seen. And us and the people Tsukasa’s de-petrified bringing old diseases back. We’re basically talking about mixing two completely separate petri dishes with who knows how many suddenly less dormant diseases between us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Oh,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Gen said again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And. Senkuu. Kept. Talking. “Though realistically, I don’t know how many diseases the villagers actually have generational immunity towards. After all, they’ve </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>been through one near extinction event before--possibly several.” He waved a hand dismissively, still taking readings. “Think bubonic plague, only more limited overall population size.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That wasn’t reassuring. That wasn’t reassuring at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen felt the need to stress to Senkuu just exactly how very not reassuring that was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, he cleared his throat.</span>
  <em>
    <span> “Mhhm?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Apparently, Senkuu caught the hint of </span>
  <em>
    <span>unrelenting terror </span>
  </em>
  <span>in Gen’s voice because he turned to him, raising an eyebrow. “What? Mentalist, didn’t you think it was weird that the village still only has like thirty something people? Or that they’ve been through three thousand years and still only developed basic tools and infrastructure? They weren’t starting from cavemen here. Even accounting for some informational loss between generations, they were descended from </span>
  <em>
    <span>astronauts, </span>
  </em>
  <span>they definitely should have still had a good enough scientific starting base to evolve </span>
  <em>
    <span>much </span>
  </em>
  <span>further than they did unless some kind of near extinction event wiped out a good chunk of the population.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen can truthfully say he never thought of it before and was sincerely regretting thinking about it now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu tilted his head and frowned. “I guess it didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be disease. It could have been some kind of natural disaster. But, something comparatively slower than instant death makes more sense since they were still able to pass on the Hundred Tales.” He scratched behind his ear. “Actually, the elders may have something about it. Oral histories really are exhilarating”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah.” Gen was trying very hard to keep his voice even. “But, we don’t have to worry about that, right, Senkuu-chan? We don’t have to worry about some humanity ending plague, yes?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure.” Senkuu waved him off. “As long as we develop the tech fast enough, we should be able to synthesize some kind of vaccines again. The good part is the villagers do still have antibodies we can use for blood work.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And we </span>
  <em>
    <span>will </span>
  </em>
  <span>get the technology in time,” Gen insisted. “Right, Senkuu-chan?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We haven’t died yet. So, that’s a good sign.” Senkuu sighed. “Fuck, you wouldn’t believe how much I miss microscopes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen swore as soon as they had the rest of the world up and running that he was immediately signing Senkuu up for a basic class on how to break terrible news with the appropriate gravitas. Gen would </span>
  <em>
    <span>make</span>
  </em>
  <span> the class if he had to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So,” Gen felt the need to clarify again. “We should be relatively fine for now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly, since it’s been about a year and mixing the populations hasn’t triggered anything yet, we’re out of the danger zone.” Senkuu agreed before pausing. “...well, probably.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Probably?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu shrugged again. Gen </span>
  <em>
    <span>hated</span>
  </em>
  <span> that shrug. “Yeah, probably. I’m not exactly a biologist or an epidemiologist.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...like you’re not exactly a chemist?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, like that. Only….you know, even less so.” Senkuu thought for a second, muttering to himself more than Gen. “I guess I did work on Ebola that one time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?!” Gen nearly shouted. “Why? </span>
  <em>
    <span>When?!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Why the fuck was Senkuu the strangest person ever?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Back when it was still a thing, obviously.” Senkuu unhooked the wires from his arm. “Anyway, it’s safe to say we’re not going to die from a host of untreated viruses anytime soon--80% chance at least.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stood up, waving Gen along. “And I need to analyze these results so we should be done with experiments for the rest of the morning if you want to head off. Good job helping or whatever. Go take a break. You need to relax.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>...Yes, like Gen was really planning on relaxing </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever again.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen spent the next entire </span>
  <em>
    <span>week</span>
  </em>
  <span> having heart attacks when anyone so much as cleared their throat. And it was entirely Senkuu’s fault.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The most annoying part was that--after a full week of thinking over every detail of stone age germs--Gen was forced to conclude that Senkuu was probably right and there really </span>
  <em>
    <span>wasn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> any point to fixating on something that they’d likely not ever have to worry about before they got the technology to handle it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just something to keep Gen wide awake in the middle of the night, then. Fantastic.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Life in the village continued as normal--well, relatively speaking giving what village it was--as the second phone started to come along. Gen was unsurprised that Senkuu was indeed correct in his assumption this time seemed much more focused on manual labor rather than learning the process--and, thus, less time from their head scientist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Enough, apparently, that no one noticed Senkuu’s other research slipping in aside the main projects. Though, then again, Gen figured some of that might be that even if someone </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>look more closely at whatever Senkuu was working on at any given time, it was a shot in the dark on how much they’d be able to piece together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even knowing what it was supposed to be, Gen still ended up with a headache trying to puzzle the rest through without an explanation first.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So bothersome.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Senkuu-chan,” Gen called, wandering into the lab to sit on the table, “if my hair goes grey early, I’m blaming you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu glanced up. “Your hair’s half white already. Would it make that much of a difference?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Gen assured pointedly. “So, what’s our experiment du jour?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu frowned, looking down through his notes. “....I’m not sure yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>You</span>
  </em>
  <span> don’t know what to test?” Gen raised a brow. “What about the list?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know </span>
  <em>
    <span>what </span>
  </em>
  <span>to test,” Senkuu corrected, sounding vaguely frustrated. “I just haven’t figured out how to test it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yet. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I’m sure I’ll figure something out eventually. I told you, psychological research wasn’t really my focus. I was mainly interested in neurology.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you testing from psychology?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emotions,” Senkuu muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen tilted his head, a smirk slowly spreading across his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop that,” Senkuu said flatly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop what? Stop </span>
  <em>
    <span>smiling</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Gen pouted. “Ah, Senkuu-chan’s so cruel.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just say it, mentalist.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen propped his head in his hands and leaned forward, words practically twirling. “You’re going to talk about feelings, Senkuu-chan?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I talk about feelings fine,” Senkuu grumbled, but even he didn’t sound like he was putting any weight behind it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen laughed. “No, you absolutely </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Annoyance is an emotion.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Senkuu-chan,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Gen said and kept laughing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what you’re laughing about,” Senkuu told him. “I always tell people exactly what I want them to know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen gave him a look. “Yes, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>suppose </span>
  </em>
  <span>that’s true.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu generally was very, very clear about what </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>wanted them to know. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The questions of how much that aligned with what others were asking, what they wanted to know, and what might need to be said were still decidedly up in the air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu turned away which meant Gen was right and Senkuu </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> it was a losing argument. “I know that the field of romantic development isn’t just based on the chemical reactions alone. It needs theory to propose research and interpret findings.” He sighed. “But, I only know some of the theoretical components: commitment, passion, intimacy--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Gen said, “you’re talking about Sternberg’s Triangular Theory.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, sure,” Senkuu shrugged. “You’d know more, I only know about it because its tests with phenethylamine. Does it work?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s as fine as any of the rest.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The rest? It’s a single phenomenon,” Senkuu said. “How many more decently valid theories can there be?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen grinned. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Tons. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Psychology isn’t a hard science, Senkuu-chan, you can’t just run a test in the lab and have a definitive result on how people work.”  He ticked off his fingers. “There’s attachment styles, the self-expansion model, love languages, emotional dimensions, hierarchies, typologies.” A head tilt. “You can even go back to Freud if you want, he tied it into ego idealism, of course.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Which is?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not much,” Gen said innocently. “Just that you love your idea of the perfect person. So, are we going with Freud? I’m very flattered, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s not,” Senkuu said flatly. “Your head’s big enough already.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine, fine,” Gen’s smirk was back, “Luck for you, I know </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly </span>
  </em>
  <span>how to test intimacy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu was already looking skeptical.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ever play 20 Questions,” Gen teased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu blinked. “You’re kidding.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not, actually,” Gen swung his legs from his seat on the table. “If we’re defining intimacy as emotional closeness, the best way to test it is emotionally based disclosure. And, you’ll especially like this, there </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> been studies that specific question sets can induce interpersonal closeness, </span>
  <em>
    <span>intimacy </span>
  </em>
  <span>as you’d call it. I don’t remember the questions, so, this will have to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“....Why,” Senkuu asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why what, Senkuu-chan?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are you the one suggesting this,” Senkuu elaborated. “Talk all you want about how I dodge talking about </span>
  <em>
    <span>feelings</span>
  </em>
  <span>; but, you avoid direct answers like the plague--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah,” Gen held up a hand, “we’re not using the p-word right now, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>And</span>
  </em>
  <span> I thought your whole plan was getting me to fall </span>
  <em>
    <span>out </span>
  </em>
  <span>of love.” A beat. “Which is still a dumb plan, obviously; but, you seemed pretty set on it. Why help me with a study for increased intimacy now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I’m such a kind and caring soul, clearly,” Gen gave his best shot at looking earnest. “Isn’t helping for the sake of scientific knowledge alone reason enough?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu snorted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen dropped the mask with a wink.  “For the same reasons you’ve probably already guessed, a manipulated intimacy test can’t actually form love.” His lips spread out in a slow grin. “It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>perceptions </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>temporary </span>
  </em>
  <span>emotional responses. An illusion, some would say. No one can actually fall in love in one conversation.” He hummed. “Though, I guess there is a chance for an increased emotional high and a fixation to develop--love at first sight, so the saying goes. But, to be honest, I’m not that worried about that for you. Not the least reason because you’re supposedly already ‘in love’.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He made sure to put quotes around the words just to see the exasperated look Senkuu gave him in response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Gen waved a hand. “Increased emotional intimacy is good for an experiment, it’s not a long term solution.” He pinned Senkuu with a look. “And, the most obvious, intimacy is a double edged sword. It’s just as likely to ruin an illusion as it is to create one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, you’ve claimed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu didn’t bother continuing, sitting on the ground and pulling out his stethoscope. “Fine, are we doing this or not?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen grinned, sliding to the floor so he could be at eye level.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” and then just to throw him off, Gen started with: “What’s your favorite color?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu rolled his eyes. “You can start with a bit deeper questions than </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Refusing to answer and on the very first question, too.” Gen gasped. “That’s not how you play the game at all, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Red.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mine’s purple.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know. Legitimately anyone could’ve guessed that.” Senkuu moved the stethoscope to the other side of his chest and checked his pulse before continuing. “Well, at least, I’ve got a baseline for nothing now. Fair warning, if your next question’s what’s my favorite animal, I’m seriously reconsidering this method.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> your favorite animal?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Mentalist</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mentalists are your favorite animals? That’s very kinky, Senkuu-chan, I’d have guessed bats,” Gen teased as Senkuu looked increasingly done with everything. Gen threw him a bone. “Hmmm, believe it or not, I was trying to work up to more personal. But, if you insist.” He hummed. “Would you like to ask the first </span>
  <em>
    <span>real </span>
  </em>
  <span>question, then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess I’d better..” And, then, Senkuu paused--thinking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See,” Gen said, “it is harder than it looks to think of one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was just deciding what to start with,” Senkuu disagreed. “Fine, simple one, if you could talk to anyone in this world, who would it be?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dead or alive?” Gen smiled. “Or, I suppose, petrified or revived, too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu waved a hand. “Anyone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm, well, a survivalist wouldn’t hurt.” Gen tapped his chin. “You’re right, one day, we really will need more doctors--I’ve been feeling particularly interested in epidemiologists lately. But, I guess…,” he shrugged, “what’s the fun being practical with questions like these. You know I used to get asked this question in interviews sometime, so I suppose I’ll stick with my favorite. Bess Houdini </span>
  <span>née Rahner.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu blinked. “....okay? And that is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Houdini’s wife,” Gen smiled, “and, more importantly, his assistant and a performer in her own right. She continued some of his acts after he died, even perfected one of them he’d never finished. Incredible.” He winked. “That’s the thing about illusions, Senkuu-chan, only part of it happens on stage. The hard part’s where the audience </span>
  <em>
    <span>isn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>looking. If you want the secrets for any magician, ask their assistant; or for most great men, ask their partners.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Einstein married another physicist,” Senkuu said. “Mileva Marić, a lot of people think they worked together.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s...nice?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They divorced.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unsurprising.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about you, Senkuu-chan,” Gen asked. “Who do you want to talk with? Your father, I’m guessing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Meh, I already know </span>
  <em>
    <span>him. </span>
  </em>
  <span>What more do I really need to say?” Senkuu said because, really, waiting for sentiment from Senkuu was like making a magnet and holding out for lightning. “I’d go with Lilian Weinberg.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was Gen’s turn to stare. “I...never took you for a fan of pop music.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh…,” Gen had no clue--even if she was one of the former astronauts, he’d </span>
  <em>
    <span>assumed </span>
  </em>
  <span>Senkuu would pick one of the scientists. “Well, she was one of the most beautiful celebrities of our old world, so, I suppose…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which, honestly, seemed even less likely than the pop music; but, Gen was out of ideas.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gross.” Senkuu made a face. “That’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>not why.” He huffed. “Dad had this huge crush on her, kept telling me about her every time he called. He said he was going to ask her out after the mission.” He gestured around them. “Judging by the recording and the fact the village has blonde hair, I guess he finally got around to it. I’d want to talk to her just to ask how she put up with him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen blinked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wait.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>….surprisingly sweet, actually. Or maybe, not that surprising.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I bet you would’ve gotten along,” Gen said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why? We have literally nothing in common, except dealing with the old man.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe that’s all you need.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu sighed. “Don’t bother thinking about it, mentalist, it’s a question so I answered it.” He waved his stethoscope. “Just for the test.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmmm...I lied before,” Gen found himself saying, apropos of seemingly nothing. “If I could talk to anyone here, I’d choose my great-aunt. She’s the one who taught me my first card tricks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why lie,” Senkuu asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well,” Gen said lightly. “</span>
  <span>Bess Houdini is a much more interesting answer. Better for interviews.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu huffed. “You’re ridiculous.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe,” Gen smiled. “It’s your turn again, I suppose.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu breathed out. “I’ve been wanting to ask you this for forever.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen braced himself, preparing for anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mentalist,” Senkuu stared at him, “why the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck </span>
  </em>
  <span>were your books such trash?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen threw back his head and laughed hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m serious,” Senkuu continued over the laughter, “back when Taiju and Yuzuriha kept quoting them, I figured you were some magician that did a little psychology and threw it in with the rest of the crap--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” Gen was cackling into his hands, “all of that psychology research was entirely accurate, I’ll have you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>know, that’s what made them so annoying!” Senkuu huffed as Gen continued on, almost falling over as he laughed. “Quit it. I swear, half my science club kept bringing them up </span>
  <em>
    <span>every fucking meeting! </span>
  </em>
  <span>I almost had to do a school festival event around that shit. I wanted to murder you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen was actually crying, he swore. He wiped at his eyes, trying futilely to stop wheezing. “I’m...very, very...sorry I stole your science club, Senkuu-chan.” Gen finally got his breathing back under control and beamed. “Looking back, I’m shocked you didn’t have Kohaku run me through the first time we met.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Senkuu glared. “And now, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>you did way more research than that, you know more than that, so why bother dumbing it down?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen wiggled his fingers. “It’s a trick.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re right. I fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>should</span>
  </em>
  <span> have had Kohaku beat you up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So meeeaaan,” Gen smiled. “Silly, Senkuu-chan, it’s not dumbing it down. I told you, all of that stuff was totally true!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu gave him a look. “I was curious so I found some of the studies. You cited them and still left out half of the other science for gimmicks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm, so?” Gen agreed easily. “And it was definitely </span>
  <em>
    <span>far more</span>
  </em>
  <span> than half, Senkuu-chan. Are you kidding me? My editor would have thought I’d lost it if I started going off on ‘mediating factors’ and ‘significance values’ in a cutesy mentalism book.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu’s glare got worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen tried and failed to push down his amusement. “Oh, this is actually really bugging you, Senkuu-chan? I can tell.” </span>
</p><p><span>“</span><em><span>Yes,</span></em><span>” Senkuu snapped, a rare show of actual annoyance. Gen didn’t even get the chance to mentally cheer that his plan might be working before Senkuu continued. “Do you know</span> <span>how many studies--</span><em><span>real science</span></em><span>--gets ignored entirely because its stupid press release comes out saying some bullshit about how chocolate cures cancer or vaccines kill people? All because no one bothered to understand the fucking study.” A huff. “Then, people use </span><em><span>that </span></em><span>as a justification not to believe anything actually confirmed because they lump it in with all the other crap.” Senkuu sighed, heat draining out of him. “Or they did. Will. Whatever.”</span></p><p>
  <span>“That’s all very true, Senkuu-chan,” Gen agreed airily. “But, we’re talking about </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>book. And was any of mine </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Senkuu said like the word pained him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen winked. “See, I just made it fun.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But, you didn’t have to. It was already there,” Senkuu argued. “Why not just include all of it? You understand it; you’re crazy about this kind of stuff. Half of that it was your own. So, why bother synthesizing all those theories together and not put in everything?” He frowned. “Why bother making it sound like the same type of crap as those stupid made-up personality quizzes if it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>not.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahh, Senkuu-chan,” Gen said. “You should know better than that. So, people would actually read it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“People would read it, anyway,” Senkuu said stubbornly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sure.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Gen snorted. “And how many of those science journals actually get read? Better yet, when they do, who can parse through it without knowing half the subject already.” He waved broadly at the village. “Honestly, Senkuu-chan, all you have to do is look here. The villagers didn’t care anything about science until you gave them a reason to. Even </span>
  <em>
    <span>Chrome </span>
  </em>
  <span>would have never gotten this far without someone to explain how he could get there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu’s frown had at least gone to consideration.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hate it all you want; but, science doesn’t help much of anything if no one learns about it. The most influential studies are the ones that can be talked about.” Gen smirked. “Alright, and the books that make the most money, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu huffed; but, it sounded less outright annoyed now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And, you know me, I’ve always been more of a performer than an academic,” Gen continued. “But, even I know you don’t throw advanced calculus at someone learning algebra and expect them to get anywhere. Well, most people,” he amended, considering his audience. “It’s the same for anyone. If it’s all true, then who cares if people learn it from a trashy </span>
  <em>
    <span>bestselling and sold out </span>
  </em>
  <span>mentalism book. Why does it matter where they start? At least, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>a start. No one’s getting ignored.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not all science gets ignored,” Senkuu argued.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, </span>
  <em>
    <span>a lot, </span>
  </em>
  <span>then. Happy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>shouldn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It matters.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should, would, and could are all very pretty words,” Gen said. “But, they don’t mean anything compared to reality.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what,” Senkuu asked, “you wrote it like cheap tricks so they’d listen.” He narrowed his eyes. “That’s….altruistic.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pft, it was nothing quite </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>noble. I told you, fun books sell better.” Gen leaned back. “You can stick with being the teacher, Senkuu-sensei. I prefer no one knowing </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>my tricks.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sure.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Senkuu said in a mimic of Gen a moment earlier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen winked. “I told you, don’t try to find any deeper meaning here. I’m not an ocean, just a reflecting pool.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu rolled his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You really are a mentalist,” Senkuu said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ironically, actually, as for once, Gen wasn’t entirely sure how to interpret the tone behind those words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ask the next question,” Senkuu ordered, “I didn’t really want to get in an academic debate with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I bet you </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> want to debate academics, Senkuu-chan,” Gen teased. “Want to talk replication crisis next?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu pressed his lips together and very pointedly moved on instead of answering. “If you’re not going to ask, I’ll go next.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Technically that was a question.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then, no,” Senkuu said bluntly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen laughed. “Fine. What’s the most selfish thing you miss in this stone world?” He paused. “That you haven’t already brought back, of course. Something you’d choose just for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Most selfish?” Senkuu smiled and the expression seemed weighted. “A library.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That doesn’t sound very selfish, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is.” Senkuu twisted a crick out of his shoulders as he looked down at his stethoscope. “What about you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fireworks,” Gen answered. “But, I suppose we don’t have the gunpowder, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Need nitric acid for that,” Senkuu agreed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe after the war, then.” Gen looked up from under his lashes. “What’s something you’ve never told anyone?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu frowned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen pointed. “No science facts either. I want something </span>
  <em>
    <span>no one </span>
  </em>
  <span>else knows.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I got it. I’m thinking.” Eventually, Senkuu shrugged. “There’s a piece in my left ear that never got fully depetrified. I think it’s somewhere in the middle part, next to the eardrum but I’ve got no clue how to remove it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen blinked. “Really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu shrugged again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you pour the revival fluid on it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu stared at him. “Why didn’t I pour a solution of </span>
  <em>
    <span>nitric acid </span>
  </em>
  <span>in my </span>
  <em>
    <span>ear</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, Gen supposed that was fair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s more annoying than anything,” Senkuu said, scratching at his ear likely out of habit. “My hearing was already sort of screwed up from all the explosions when I was a kid, least the stone reversed most of that.” He pursed his lips. “It is interesting, though. From what we’ve seen of Tsukasa’s empire, they’ve got a lot more patches that didn’t get fully dissolved in the initial depetricification. I only had two small pieces. As far as I know, Taiju didn’t have any.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Which means,” Gen asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Practically nothing important,” Senkuu answered. “It means that the revival fluid could be further refined since apparently it’s not quite as thorough at breaking apart the stone compared to Taiju and I that stayed awake through it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” Gen put that together. “TAIJU STAYED AWAKE?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu smirked at Gen’s expression. “That oaf’s the most stubborn person alive; he woke up a few months after me. Besides, I’d ten billion percent be dead by now if he hadn’t. You didn’t think I was the only one, did you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, </span>
  <em>
    <span>frankly,</span>
  </em>
  <span> it didn’t seem that out of the box to assume there weren’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>more </span>
  </em>
  <span>people that kept conscious for </span>
  <em>
    <span>three thousand and seven hundred years</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Gen felt dizzy at the implication. “Did he stay awake counting, too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Taiju?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Senkuu laughed. “Of course he didn’t. Actually, you’ll enjoy this one, mentalist. He stayed awake through the power of </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen narrowed his eyes. “That’s ridiculous.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know.” Senkuu huffed, almost fond. “The day of the petrification, he was supposed to be confessing to Yuzuriha--</span>
  <em>
    <span>finally, </span>
  </em>
  <span>by the way, he spent years whining to me about it.” Senkuu leaned back. “And, apparently, he decided it was enough to wait another three millennia. How’s that for your eternal love, mentalist?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Impossible,” Gen said immediately. He didn’t even have to think. “You don’t stay awake for a person that long. You stay awake for an </span>
  <em>
    <span>idea. </span>
  </em>
  <span>A hope.” He shook his head. “You said it yourself, they weren’t even dating yet. They didn’t have a romantic relationship to sustain him. Whatever miracle kept Taiju going through all of that, it wasn’t love--not a reality, just the illusion of what love could be if he ever woke up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cynic,” Senkuu accused without bite. “I don’t have a millimetre's worth of interest in a pointless argument about </span>
  <em>
    <span>Taiju’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> emotions. Fuck, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> hasn’t gotten around to confessing, so, who knows how they’d be in a relationship. Whatever you’re calling it, as long as it kept him awake, I don’t really care.” He snorted. “And, he’s not vomiting up flowers so maybe he’s doing something right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen sat his head up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because that reminded him of a question he actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>want to ask, had been wondering for months, but never knew how exactly to bring up tactfully. If there ever was a time to not bother with tack, it was now. And Gen did want to know, badly in a way that itched under is skin and kept him awake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What,” Senkuu asked as he had a finger up to check his pulse, writing down the readings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...I’ve got a question,” Gen admitted, “but, I’m not exactly sure how to ask it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then, don’t. By my count, you’ve already gotten about five. Granted, I didn’t exactly play this game much; but, I think it’s supposed to be my turn.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like you care.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu waved a hand. “Fine, go ahead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, you…,” Gen paused, thinking of a date carved into a tree and seconds counting without a seeming end until the number got beyond human comprehension. Or apparently, not all humans. “You stayed awake the entire time, didn’t you? You had to if you were able to count. That means you couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t feel. For three thousand, seven hundred, and fifteen years.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It seemed impossible because it was impossible. It should be. “Seriously, Senkuu, how….how are you…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sane?” Senkuu finished bluntly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Gen made a face somewhere between an apology and a wince; but continued on regardless. “You shouldn’t be. I know you shouldn’t be; it isn’t possible. I do remember sensory deprivation studies. I had to when reading on certain escape tricks. The most any human’s ever lasted is a few hours, not days. Especially not millennia. There’s no possible way you should have come out of that functional; so, how...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There wasn’t any good way to ask someone how they </span>
  <em>
    <span>weren’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> completely catatonic, was there?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know.” Senkuu nodded and continued calmly, “to be honest, during the petrification’s first few hours, I nearly gave it up because I figured it would be pointless to try. Especially because human brains also need sleep, which--of course--I couldn’t get without losing count.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stretched out his hand in front of him, flexing it as if testing that he could still move it. “Then, I realized I wasn’t experiencing any other symptoms. I couldn’t test heartbeat or breathing rate, obviously. But, I wasn’t having any hallucinations. Fuck, I didn’t even have heightened anxiety as far as I could tell. It was…,” Senkuu’s face went through a series of emotions before settling on mild frustration. “...really weird. I could still think, still count. I could make plans and consider probabilities of what was happening to the outside world; but, there wasn’t any emotional reaction there. Like how I would feel about it was distant. Muted. I could predict the urgency and necessity of surviving; but, I couldn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen waited, frowning. “Shock?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe at first,” Senkuu agreed. “I can’t know for sure; but, yeah, my theory is that not </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>of the brain was still working--only the parts I needed to stay active. Obviously, I still had my memory and could reason so the frontal lobe had to be functioning--same for the cerebral cortex and at least some of the hippocampus. But, the other parts? No need to have the midbrain if there's no senses to process.” He paused, keeping his eyes on the stethoscope rather than looking up. “My guess is that somewhere in the first hour or so my emotional processing got shut down. Not entirely probably, neurology’s not that clear cut. But, dormant, I guess. Hard to go crazy from sensory deprivation if you don’t have the pituitary and amygdala pumping out fear. Or anything else.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen swallowed, his words feeling oddly clumsy. “How was that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hated it.” Senkuu waved a hand, still not looking up. “Or I did once everything was back working properly. Whatever, I guess it kept me sane long enough to do everything else so it was probably for the best.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t sound like it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, he didn’t. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Millennia with only logic,” Gen mused. “That sounds….very cold.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...eh, it wasn’t that bad,” Senkuu disagreed, finally glancing up. “I still knew they were </span>
  <em>
    <span>there. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I just couldn’t feel them at the moment.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu said it like it was a matter of fact--a truth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen blinked. considered. rearranged. before realizing he didn’t need to rearrange at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d already known.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whether he could fully process them or not, Senkuu was made of the things he loved. He still never forgot their presence. He still planned for them. He had to have been if they were working off his plans now. Senkuu always hid his heart like threads in his plan’s interweaving logic--even, apparently, for the millennia that heart didn’t beat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What now,” Senkuu asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen realized he was staring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How did someone who could still love without even needing to feel it ever fall in love with someone who couldn’t love at all?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen smiled instead and hoped it didn’t look plastic. “Mhm, nothing, Senkuu-chan. You’re right. I can’t imagine any of us would be awake now if not for that. So, probably for the best.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>How was it fair that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Senkuu</span>
  </em>
  <span> was the one being killed by it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth and didn't say any of that. “Still, doesn’t explain Taiju, though. He definitely was working off emotions. Different parts of the brain, you think? Or was the petrification </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> specific on which hormones could still be produced?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Possible.” Senkuu shrugged. “Of course, I could be wrong. It could be part of the stone’s healing properties constantly fighting back the side effects...or a bit of both, which is actually the most likely answer, now that I think about it. There’s no way to test it. Not without somehow finding another person that was still conscious and breaking apart the stone to analyze. Which, also, would kill them. So, no luck finding an answer anytime soon. Probably ever.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm,” Gen traced patterns in the dirt floor. “How’s the test?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hard to say for now,” Senkuu answered. “We can probably stop--if you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t mind,” Gen said and stretched his arms. “Maybe one more. To be sure, of course.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just one?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, I’m an open book,” Gen blatantly lied. “Why do you think I agreed to this game with you? I’m very generous.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>suggested </span>
  </em>
  <span>it.” Senkuu rolled his eyes. “And I’m guessing at least half of it’s because you’re a nosey mentalist that likes digging in people’s brains way too much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A fake pout. “Awww, you make me sound so mercenary, Senkuu-chan.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s the lie?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know,” Gen tapped his chin, “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>going to let you have the last question; but, now, it’s mine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No way,” Senkuu said right back. “You ask too many questions already.Last one’s mine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Heartless</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Senkuu-chan.” Gen sighed. “Interrogating me when I selflessly offer my help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll live,” Senkuu said flatly. “Final question?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, final question.” Gen looked up from his lashes. “But, I had a good one. So, you better make it worth it, won’t you, Senkuu-chan?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu nodded.  “How did petrification turn half your hair white? That’s scientifically impossible.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A pause.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, Gen laughed, the sound soft but genuine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Noooo, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Senkuu-chan, I have no idea! I was hoping </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>could tell </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That night, Gen stayed awake--stealing an extra blanket and bundling up tight so he could sit at the shore and watch the moon shine off the lake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He found the motion of the waves helped him think more than stillness ever would.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he had a number of things he wanted to think about.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d wondered this before,of course. He wouldn’t be much of a mentalist if he didn’t look at the people around him and try to figure out what made them tick. And maybe Senkuu had been right that Gen didn’t have entirely purehearted motives for a question game.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Sometimes, though, all it took was a single other moment to bring the observation to focus. Gen wasn’t quite sure which part of Senkuu’s answers it had been, maybe all of them together; but, Gen was quickly gaining perspective and needed to figure out what it meant. What Gen needed to do to plan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Surprisingly, it didn’t even have to do with the stupid flowers, for once. Gen wasn’t sure if that helped or not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because….</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Here was the problem with Senkuu-chan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To say simply that he was a scientist would be both misleading and woefully inaccurate. It made it seem too much like a profession, a coat to be thrown on and off where Senkuu wore science like a second skin, maybe even deeper. Science found its legs in observation, prediction, tests, and refinement--logic and rational to its very core--and, therefore, Senkuu rooted himself in the same and viewed the world through a magnifying glass. Breaking down its composition.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen knew that it was a mistake too many made to assume that logic was cold and science existed without emotion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu proved that himself too many times to count.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Advancement was made by need, so who else was it built to help but the needy? Fires to heat the freezing, glasses to bring sight, medicine to heal the dying. Humans, by their very nature, had decided that a society was more rational than living alone so, </span>
  <em>
    <span>of course</span>
  </em>
  <span>, there was logic in caring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu could both have his rational science and his obvious bleeding heart because they were never supposed to be contradictions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen watched the sky, the moon, the stars. They stayed ever steady in the sky, right until the moment they hit the water. There, they became distorted, blending, muddled. Still present in their own way but nowhere close to the same picture.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Here was why Senkuu was wrong.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu viewed people as science experiments. Not without care; but, he viewed them as a series of variables present or absent, observed them, and then based his approach on the most rational result. A risk-to-benefit analysis, really, only with Senkuu’s clear determination to calculate in every possible factor that may vary the outcome.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen held back a sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a very, </span>
  <em>
    <span>very </span>
  </em>
  <span>Senkuu world view to have--down to the point where Gen doubted Senkuu could change it even if he tried. Because the problem was people’s minds had far too many variables to plug into a formula. Even if they could, people were </span>
  <em>
    <span>contrary</span>
  </em>
  <span>. What they said may have nothing to do with what they wanted, may have even less to do with what they did. Other people </span>
  <em>
    <span>weren’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> pragmatist and, truly, what kind of experiment could possibly be harder to predict than the ones with human error?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which meant one day Senkuu would be wrong.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which meant one day all of his brilliant plans and flawless calculation would be based on a person that didn’t react the way he predicted. The way he </span>
  <em>
    <span>needed, </span>
  </em>
  <span>quite possibly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One day there may be another foolish mentalist, stumbling out of the woods and holding Senkuu’s life in his hands….and maybe that time, the stranger wouldn’t see the marvel of numbers scrawled on a cave or taste it in the first bite of ramen….maybe that time, the stranger would chose the simpler way and just let Senkuu die rather than be swayed by a flimsy excuse of a cola.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because maybe that stranger wouldn't have been Gen and maybe Senkuu would have been </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span> then dead. Gen didn’t want to think of that possibility. An ending before they’d even begun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, that possibility could not be allowed to exist again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, it wasn’t the job of hard science to look at a person and account for behaviors, to sway them to their proper spot. That was persuasion rather than pragmatism. Psychology rather than neurology. That was the job of a mentalist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, that was the thing about science versus mentalism, wasn’t it? How could they compete in entirely separate races?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was better to have them run side by side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Gen was very invested in this stone world. And he’d always enjoyed their head scientist a bit more than he really should. So, he guessed he’d continue to pick up where Senkuu left off until they built back the world.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was the trick, after all: only half of it happened on stage; the rest was where the audience wasn’t looking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu would be the leader. Gen would handle the strings behind the curtain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t force himself to believe in love. But, this at least he could choose.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Gen,” called a tense voice with every sound of getting more on edge soon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen turned on his heel, holding up his hands with his smile already in place. “Sorry, Kohaku-chan, I’m innocent for once!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kohaku stopped, tilting her head. “Innocent of what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever I’m being accused of, of course,” Gen sung out. “So, basically, of everything. I’m as innocent as a newborn lamb.” He paused. “Actually, nevermind, you don’t have lambs here, would you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.” Her eyes sharpened. “Is it like a gorilla? A snake?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“....not exactly.” Gen’s hands moved in a flighty motion as he tried to find a word. Really, it was just tragic that all of his metaphors were lost on his current audience. “Think cuter and fluffier.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ha, what’s that have to do with you, then,” Kohaku asked, hands on her hips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, you wound me, Kohaku-chan.” Gen held a hand to his chest. “And nothing, it’s just an expression. One for my profound and sincere innocence.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a second, Kohaku’s eyes drilled into him with near the same terrifying intensity that Senkuu had and absolutely none of his underlying amusement. Gen suppressed a shudder--lioness, indeed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not accusing you of anything,” Kohaku admitted with an eye roll.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen clasped his hands in front of him. “Oh, I’m so relieved.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kohaku poked at him. “Should I be accusing you of something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course not--didn’t I just profess my innocence?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kohaku finally smiled and Gen considered it a job well done. “You words really are completely weightless, aren’t they?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like a feather in the air,” Gen agreed cheerfully. “And why is our noble village lioness hunting down a poor mentalist like me, then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And in a blink, the momentary trace of humor dropped off her face entirely</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need to ask you something,” she admitted, voice lowering as she edged closer to him . “About your old world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm,” Gen tilted his head to show he was listening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The question wasn’t anything he expected. “What are allergenies?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen blinked. “You mean allergies?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kohaku nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um,” Gen tried desperately to remember his basic secondary education. “...they’re like foods or plants that sometimes make people sick or trigger a bad reaction. It’s...not a universal experience, allergies depend on the person. Like if someone was allergic to foods with nuts or milk...” He paused. “Actually, milk might be lactose intolerant? I have no idea if that counts as an allergy.” He sighed. “Really, Kohaku-chan, with medical questions, you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>far </span>
  </em>
  <span>better off finding Senkuu.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t,” Kohaku said shortly. “What about people that cough when the weather changes, is that an allergy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Gen’s expression cleared. “Yes, I know that one. That’s a seasonal allergy. They’re very common--annoying, but usually not anything to worry about.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kohaku breathed out. “Okay, that’s what Senkuu said, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why do you ask?” Gen studied her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Senkuu started coughing today while we were working on the crystals for the second phone,” Kohaku said quietly. “It sounded really bad. He had to step away and let Chrome finish it.” She worried at the handle of one of her knives. “When he came back, he told us it was just an allergy. That those were apparently normal in your time and he’d be fine. But, I wondered if maybe….it was some kind of pneumonia like before. If warm spring water might help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen didn’t close his eyes even if he wanted, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first to notice </span>
  <em>
    <span>would</span>
  </em>
  <span> be the girl that spent most of her life caring for a sister that never seemed to get better. Of course, it would be. Of course, she would worry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Did Senkuu put those pieces together yet? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, he did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why else would he have already bothered to think of a convenient excuse, one laced with scientific truth--even for the wrong disease. That was Senkuu, wasn’t it? Teaching even in the rare moments when he decided to lie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because just like for years before, there wasn’t anything Kohaku could do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nothing she could have done to cure pneumonia and save her sister.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nothing she can do now to cure Hanahaki and save her friend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, apparently, Gen did lie when he said he was completely innocent. After all, he hadn’t cured it either and, for him, at least he has the chance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, he could do this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiled warmly at Kohaku. “Allergies aren’t anything to worry about, Kohaku-chan. Trust me, Senkuu’s going to be completely fine by spring.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kohaku’s shoulders finally relaxed, the last of tension bleeding away. Her normal bright smile was back. “I should probably have guessed that. People get coughs all the time when winter comes and they’re normally fine.” She made a noise in the back of her throat. “Oh, are those allergies, too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe,” Gen agreed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll ask Senkuu after lunch,” Kohaku said, determined. She waved at him. “Thanks, Gen!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen watched her go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lies were always so costly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only half consciously, his feet led him back to the lab. All the other villagers were already taking a break for lunch; but, Gen had a feeling….</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu was still waiting in the lab.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, there.” Gen didn’t take his usual seat, instead opting to stand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Senkuu glanced up. “Figured you’d be at lunch.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was; but, I got a bit waylaid. Decided to come here instead.” He looked down on the table. For once in the past month, nothing in the lab looked like it had anything to do with Hanahaki--even Senkuu’s research notes closed off to the side. “What’s that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just making some quick Rochelle salt for the speaker,” Senkuu said. “Chrome did well; but, he added the sodium carbonate too fast.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not like Chrome,” Gen said quietly. “Maybe he was distracted.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu stayed quiet for a long beat. “....yeah, maybe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I talked to Kohaku.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmm,” Gen leaned next to him. “I didn’t know you had allergies, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu sighed. “Technically, I told them that seasonal allergies were a completely common disease that caused coughing and mild fever like symptoms; but, didn’t have a millimetre's chance of actually killing me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, well, that’s especially true when you </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t have </span>
  </em>
  <span>seasonal allergies.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did you want me to say, mentalist?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Want?” Gen echoed. “I don’t want you to do anything, Senkuu-chan. I told you it’s your choice and I meant it. I just want to make sure you know what your choice is risking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do,” Senkuu said bluntly. “We’re going to cure this; so, it doesn’t matter whether they know or not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If we don’t--,” Gen stopped and started again, “Even when we do, if we take too long, they’re going to notice something’s wrong. They lived beside Ruri for years. They’re going to notice and when they do, they’ll </span>
  <em>
    <span>worry.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He looked at Senkuu. “That’s not something you can stop.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But, it’s something I can manage and lessen,” Senkuu said. He looked down at the salts. “This isn’t me being selfish. Well, not totally. We can’t afford the village being distracted with me right now. And I’m not stupid; if I told them, they would.” He met Gen’s eyes. “If we don’t finish the phone in time, Tsukasa’s Empire will invade and destroy the village come spring. If we don’t finish </span>
  <em>
    <span>all of this, </span>
  </em>
  <span>we’ll never stand a chance in the war. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>refuse </span>
  </em>
  <span>to risk the lives of everyone in the village just so I can have more people worry at my non-existent bedside. And, if they want to get mad at me for that after, they ca</span>
  <span>n.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen released a breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sometimes, he forgot that truths had costs, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Senkuu was just as familiar with those as Gen was with lies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Though hopefully I can wait at least half a decade or so to mention it,” Senkuu tacked on. “They should be mostly over it by then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen snorted. “Oh, I think you severely underestimate your ability to piss people off in style, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“....Possibly,” Senkuu admitted. “So, we’re good?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Weren’t we always?” Gen waved a hand. “But, yes, you made your point.” He gave a perfectly over dramatic sigh. “Pity, I was hoping so much to push my research partner duties off to someone else. What a wasted opportunity.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh, you’re not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>good a research partner.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen gasped in mock offense. “How dare--the very nerve, Senkuu-chan, after all I’ve done for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t even accurately take a heart rate reading.” Senkuu’s smirk was completely unapologetic. “Chrome would have been a ten billion percent better research partner than you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen sniffed. “Then, fall in love with Chrome next time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pass.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“On a next time or on Chrome?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Pass.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen smiled, letting the easy air rest between them. It was moments like this that the constant feeling of a countdown faded away, never entirely forgotten but instead moved to the background.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, how many more do we have for experiments,” Gen asked. “It feels like we’ve done every kind of scientific test possible.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu stilled, the finished salts rattling in the jar before he caught up with himself. He sat them carefully down and continued moving like nothing ever happened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>...As if Gen was really going to let that go without notice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? Did you run out of ideas for new tests,” Gen asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not exactly,” Senkuu muttered, still looking at the salts rather than Gen. “But, you’re right. I have gotten through most of the gamut of testable variables that could affect the disease. Now, what’s left is analyzing the results and refining until I can get a definite answer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That sounds,” Gen thought, “like it should be a good thing, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu shrugged. “It’s a step closer.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His lips thinned, an expression passing by that if Gen didn’t know better he might call ‘conflicted’. Which was very interesting as Gen could properly say by now Senkuu wasn’t normally the type to spend time on debating when he could move to decisions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Eventually, Senkuu huffed. “There’s only one other thing I can think of that might affect it; but, the actual measurable application of it would be such a pain, I’m thinking we should skip it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re</span>
  </em>
  <span> skipping a test?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>forgoing</span>
  </em>
  <span> it because it’s not practical.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That didn’t sound like something that would require the hesitation, though.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen hummed. “Not going to try automating it like with your shock machine?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not really the same kind of effect.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen frowned. “It’s not like you to just give up on science, Senkuu-chan. What’s the test?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a subjective experience and one I need you for,” Senkuu said. “And there’s no way to make the effect consistent across different times--that’s why it’s practically useless.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>admittedly seem a more fair argument; but, still Gen couldn’t help but press. “Why not try anyway? What if it’s part of a cure?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I seriously doubt that,” Senkuu muttered, ears turning a faint pink.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that only happened when…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ah.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, this was going to be fun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen’s lips quirked up automatically. “You know, you still haven’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>told me what this mystery test is, Senkuu-chan? Holding out on me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu looked up at the tone, studied him, and then rolled his eyes. “You know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do I?” Gen tapped his chin. “Well, maybe I do, maybe I don’t. Weren’t we just talking about mind reading the other day? How can I possibly know for sure unless you tell me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu didn’t even acknowledge that with a response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you should test it,” Gen said innocently. “For science, you know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re impossible,” Senkuu grumbled. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fine. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The only other chemical components that are associated with love that I haven’t completely tested are oxytocin--typically associated with bonding and attachment but also triggered with specific physical stimulus.” He huffed. “And testosterone which is controlled by the endocrine system.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s really fascinating how you can use science to talk around legitimately everything, Senkuu-chan,” Gen drawled. “Do you do that every time you go on a science rant? Do the rest of us just not notice? That’s so sneaky! I’m impressed!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mentalist.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay.” Gen had a pretty good reading on the point he could tease to before Senkuu decided to stop letting him and gave it up for something more productive. And Gen was oddly curious in how all of this was going to turn out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “A ‘physical stimulus’, was it?” He smiled. “You’re asking to kiss me, aren’t you, Senkuu-chan?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Technically, Gen supposed it didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be that specific physical stimulus; but, just a hug or causal touch wasn’t enough to have Senkuu talking around it and anything more Gen doubted Senkuu would have brought up at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu sighed. “I’ve tested everything else I can when it comes to love-related chemicals. The only ones left relate to the sex-drive.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen couldn’t resist. “So wholesome, Senkuu-chan! I don’t know if you’re aware but </span>
  <em>
    <span>a lot </span>
  </em>
  <span>of people think sex has nothing to do with love.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The look Senkuu gave him was dry enough to make deserts weep. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Thanks</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’d heard.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen grinned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I doubt studying it would need more than a kiss.” Senkuu looked at him. “And I was serious, with the technology we have, getting an even measure would be impossible. We really can skip this one if you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I want,” Gen repeated and tilted his head. “Do </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>want to kiss me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t the flowers seem like a hint,” Senkuu said bluntly.</span>
</p><p><span>Gen tsked. “Maybe? But, as someone smart once told me, everyone deserves a choice and a disease shouldn’t get to decide for you. So, do you</span> <span>want to kiss me, Senkuu-chan?”</span></p><p>
  <span>There was a pause.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wanting to kiss you isn’t a problem,” Senkuu said finally.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen spread out his hands, shrugging easily. “Then, you can.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu blinked, eyes widening before he frowned as if trying to puzzle out Gen’s hidden motives.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen laughed. “That really is all I meant, Senkuu-chan. It’s a kiss; you’re not exactly stealing my non-existent virtue here. If anything, the question’s game was a harder choice.” He winked, coming to stand in front of Senkuu. “Besides, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>would</span>
  </em>
  <span> be a really nice ego-boost if I saved you from death with a single kiss. I think I could actually call myself magical at that point.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu rolled his eyes, doing nothing to cover up the red slowly running up his neck. Truly, if Gen had gotten one joy in all of this, it was discovering Senkuu had a really, really terrible blush.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A kiss isn’t going to cure anything,” Senkuu told him. “At most, it’ll just give me a better idea on what chemicals to isolate for a cure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We really do have to work on your pick up lines, Senkuu-chan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu picked up his stethoscope, hanging it around his neck. “Ready?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Practically turning to dust as I wait,” Gen joked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu stepped closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was almost funny. With the clear hesitation Senkuu had beforehand and how direct he normally was in everything he did, Gen had almost expected Senkuu to rush in and get it over and done with as fast as possible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That wasn’t Senkuu, though.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>First and foremost, Senkuu would always be a researcher. And with experiments, patience and caution went hand in hand with anticipation--the ability to wait for hours watching a chemical slowly boil if he’d decided the result was worth the effort.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen decided to be flattered as Senkuu leaned forward slowly, tilting his head just a little bit before backing up to try to come in from a different angle, hesitating again as he glanced up at Gen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen didn’t dare try to say anything, not a tease, not even an encouragement that Senkuu would likely not appreciate right now. He just waited until Senkuu figured out how he was going to move next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Senkuu finally did decide on an action, Gen closed his eyes as Senkuu leaned in closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A peck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A brief bit of pressure and, then, it was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, really, exactly what Gen was expecting and hardly enough to be called a kiss.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen opened his eyes. “As a matter of professional advice, Senkuu-chan, if you want an effect, you’re going to want a bit more.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu’s eyes were steady. “What do you--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen grabbed him by his chin, pressed him back into the lab table, and kissed him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Truthfully, Gen couldn’t say what the motivation behind the impulse was. It could even be a bad idea. Gen didn’t associate kissing with any kind of emotional attachment; but, he tended to forget that other people definitely did--Senkuu, maybe included. Though Gen honestly doubted a single kiss would make much of an impact, considering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Possibly Gen did have enough of a scientific impulse to make sure that if Senkuu had decided to do this as a test, the least Gen could do is make sure it actually had a good chance of testing it effectively.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Possibly Gen thought that if this was Senkuu’s first kiss, which he heavily expected it was, it should be better than a single second as part of a lab experiment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Possibly it was just because it </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>been a really long time--three thousand years, give or take--since Gen had gotten to kiss someone and it was fun and he missed it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or possibly Gen had simply felt like it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever the motivation, now that Gen was kissing Senkuu, he was going to make sure it was a good one. He would make sure Senkuu felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>about it and when he thought about it later--and Gen felt sure he would--it was going to be a </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span> memory.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen had always prided himself on being an excellent entertainer, after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, when he pulled back, they were both breathing heavily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen smiled with a lightly reddened mouth, gaze locking. “So, how’d the test go?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu stared before his brain caught up and he reached for his stethoscope, holding it to his own chest and closing his eyes as he listened. Gen let him, leaning back and waiting in silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, Senkuu opened his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, how was it,” Gen prompted. “Cured with a fairytale kiss?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu’s flat look was less effective when his breathing wasn’t quite back to normal. “Don’t be ridiculous. As for a general result, it’s hard to say right now.” He shrugged. “If it’s going to have any effect on the flowers, I probably won’t notice anything for a few more hours. That’s how it’s been with the other ones.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aww, Senkuu-chan, is such a harsh critic,” Gen sighed. “Can’t give me at least some kind of encouragement. And after all the hard work I’ve done today.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu rolled his eyes. “I suppose, if you’re begging, then I’d suspect...,” he rubbed his lips together in a way that was probably unconscious, “that it had a conceivably positive effect on my overall health. At the very least, I’m no closer to death by internal bleeding.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm, oh yeah, baby,” Gen teased, “talk dirty to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Senkuu….</span>
  <em>
    <span>laughed.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen froze</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t his usual cackle, but a loud, clearly unexpected laugh that startled both of them until Senkuu blinked and kept laughing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gen watched him, eyes widening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh no.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu pulled himself together to grin--the sight made him look shockingly unguarded. “It was a successful experiment, mentalist, let’s not let it go to our heads.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeah, that really wasn’t what Gen was thinking about right now. Not that Senkuu looked like he noticed at all the way Gen was still rooted to the spot, starring in horror.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or maybe Senkuu did notice, at least the frozen part, as he poked Gen’s shoulder to singal he should let him up. Gen did, taking a step back and watching as Senkuu moved around him, heading to the lab curtain and leaving Gen to his terrifying discovery.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He almost didn’t notice Senkuu pausing before he walked out, parting words quieter than the rest. “It was nice, Gen, thanks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh no.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He left without further explanation and Gen just barely avoided burying his face in his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senkuu had a really nice laugh.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all soooooooo much for your support on this story! I really appreciate it and have enjoyed so much weeing the response for this fic--ya'll are just incredible :)</p><p> </p><p>With that here's also some amazing fanart from the ending scene in ch. 2. It's absolutely stunning so please check it out: https://irafook.tumblr.com/post/643890568766898177/fine-gen-propped-his-head-in-his-hand-and</p><p>Also always feel free to find me on tumblr: https://greycappedjester.tumblr.com/</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, guys, thanks for reading! This fic came out of me really, really wanting to explore a way Hanahaki Disease would actually work on a medical basis, what it would mean for relationships, and wanting to do debates on what love means from two cynics. What came out is this! So, hope you enjoyed! Next chapter should be up within a week or so.</p><p>Feel free to find me on tumblr: https://greycappedjester.tumblr.com</p></blockquote></div></div>
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